Members of a Chinese "gang of Dama" of debt-collectors have been jailed over illegal acts of debt collection in which they menaced victims and even stripped naked to get them to pay up, according to state media. These middle-aged women, or "damas" in Chinese, have been charged with "organized crime and gangster-like activities".

Why are middle-aged women joining the debt collection businesses? And why is debt collection-related crime a recurring phenomenon?