The controversy has received much coverage in the French-language press, including in Algeria and in France, which has a significant Algerian immigrant community.
Various petroleum businesses operate there, and the city has become a place to seek employment and economic security for many Algerians, which was in the midst of a civil war.
Many women have migrated to Hassi Messaoud to find employment doing maintenance tasks, secretarial work or in catering in the petroleum companies.
[3] During the day of prayer on Friday, July 13, 2001, an imam described as fundamentalist,[4] Amar Taleb, verbally attacked the women coming from the regions of the northwest to work in the petroleum companies, inciting the men in attendance to commit violent acts against them.
During the night of 13 to 14 July, around 10 PM, a mob of around 300 men moved in the direction of the bidonville El-Haïcha, where women working as housecleaners, cooks and secretaries lived.
[8] In August 2001, the association SOS Femmes en détresse spoke of woman killed by an attack, and three who remained hospitalized[9] According to newspaper La Tribune, imam Amar Taleb was arrested, as well as 40 men who took part in the violence.
As of 2011, similar mob attacks against women continued in Hassi Messaoud and elsewhere in Algeria, notably M'sila.
[16] In February 2010, two of the victims, Rahmouna Salah and Fatiha Maamoura, published a book, Laissées pour mortes, Le lynchage des femmes de Hassi Messaoud, through Éditions Max Milo.