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E-mailFriday, May 2, 2008
ALEPPO – The situation for working women in Syria is difficult. Women in Syria are often offered lower salaries than their male peers. Traditions that call for women to stay in the home conflict with a modern economy that requires many women to enter the workplace in order to provide food and shelter for their families. Too many women, especially in the middle and lower classes, are the sole income provider for their families, with husbands either absent, unemployed or deceased.
Accurate statistics about unemployment and female unemployment are hard to come by. But even such statistics would only tell half of the story. For the reality of being a working woman in Syria, one must speak to the women who are actually out there in the labor force. We interviewed two women in Aleppo, to learn more about why they began working, their jobs and how they balance a professional life with their responsibilities for their families.
Amal
Our first interview was with Amal. Amal is a thirty year old divorcee, who works as a tailor and clothing seller. She is from a conservative family in Aleppo, and dresses entirely in black. In spite of the austerity of her clothing, however, Amal is a beautiful and intelligent woman, easy to speak with and filled with determination and vitality.
Amal told us that she got married at age seventeen. She quickly discovered that her new husband was not cut out to take charge of the family finances. Over the eight years of their marriage, he was frequently in and out of jobs, working a month here and then spending the next few months unemployed. They relied on assistance from Amal’s family, to support themselves and their two children.
She described her husband as perpetually nervous and dependent on others, a sharp contrast to her own patient and ambitious nature. “For eight years,” she told us, “I was building while he was destroying.” At the end of those eight years, her husband decided to travel to Yemen, to earn money abroad. She stayed in Aleppo with their two children. “Immediately after his departure, he sent us ten thousand pounds [approximately 215 USD]. After that, he did not send anything more.”
For a while, they were getting by, with the help of Amal’s family. Then her sister’s husband stole 40,000 pounds from her. Everyone was sympathetic, telling her, “God is generous,” but no one was able to help her. So Amal went looking for a job. She worked first as a hairdresser, taking her infant child with her as she went to women’s houses. Then she got a job working in dying, tailoring and packaging clothing.
The place she worked was a sewing workshop, and her good manners and work ethic so impressed her bosses that she was made a manager after only two weeks there. She began working thirteen hour days, for a salary of 4000 SYP [approximately 86 USD] a month.
Around the same time as she received a raise, her absent husband’s brother asked her and her children to leave the house they lived in. He owned the house and she had no recourse. She looked for a new house to rent. Her 6000 SYP a month salary wasn’t enough to pay for rent, let alone rent and food and clothing. She finally found a landlord who offered her a temporary lease for her full salary of 6000 SYP every month. Amal had no choice but to take the lease. “Sometimes,” she told us, “I used to work for 24 hours continuously. Other time I worked for 48 hours without sleep, especially before the holidays.”
Amal was left exhausted by her constant struggle to keep her children and herself fed and clothed. She hadn’t heard from her husband since he’d left for Yemen; he hadn’t even called to inquire about the health of his children. She sued for divorce.
Amal’s hard work paid off. She kept receiving raises, as she struggled to quickly learn the skills necessary to achieve higher pay. There was a cost to pay, though, for her diligence. She no longer had time to see her children at all, and she fought against depression. “I have learned from my experience how an employer thinks,” she told us, somewhat bitterly. “He does not care about anything. The only thing that matters to him is the collection of money, while he considers those working for him as if they were slaves.”
ALEPPO – The situation for working women in Syria is difficult. Women in Syria are often offered lower salaries than their male peers. Traditions that call for women to stay in the home conflict with a modern economy that requires many women to enter the workplace in order to provide food and shelter for their families. Too many women, especially in the middle and lower classes, are the sole income provider for their families, with husbands either absent, unemployed or deceased.Accurate statistics about unemployment and female unemployment are hard to come by. But even such statistics would only tell half of the story. For the reality of being a working woman in Syria, one must speak to the women who are actually out there in the labor force. We interviewed two women in Aleppo, to learn more about why they began working, their jobs and how they balance a professional life with their responsibilities for their families.
Amal
Our first interview was with Amal. Amal is a thirty year old divorcee, who works as a tailor and clothing seller. She is from a conservative family in Aleppo, and dresses entirely in black. In spite of the austerity of her clothing, however, Amal is a beautiful and intelligent woman, easy to speak with and filled with determination and vitality.
Amal told us that she got married at age seventeen. She quickly discovered that her new husband was not cut out to take charge of the family finances. Over the eight years of their marriage, he was frequently in and out of jobs, working a month here and then spending the next few months unemployed. They relied on assistance from Amal’s family, to support themselves and their two children.
She described her husband as perpetually nervous and dependent on others, a sharp contrast to her own patient and ambitious nature. “For eight years,” she told us, “I was building while he was destroying.” At the end of those eight years, her husband decided to travel to Yemen, to earn money abroad. She stayed in Aleppo with their two children. “Immediately after his departure, he sent us ten thousand pounds [approximately 215 USD]. After that, he did not send anything more.”
For a while, they were getting by, with the help of Amal’s family. Then her sister’s husband stole 40,000 pounds from her. Everyone was sympathetic, telling her, “God is generous,” but no one was able to help her. So Amal went looking for a job. She worked first as a hairdresser, taking her infant child with her as she went to women’s houses. Then she got a job working in dying, tailoring and packaging clothing.
The place she worked was a sewing workshop, and her good manners and work ethic so impressed her bosses that she was made a manager after only two weeks there. She began working thirteen hour days, for a salary of 4000 SYP [approximately 86 USD] a month.
Around the same time as she received a raise, her absent husband’s brother asked her and her children to leave the house they lived in. He owned the house and she had no recourse. She looked for a new house to rent. Her 6000 SYP a month salary wasn’t enough to pay for rent, let alone rent and food and clothing. She finally found a landlord who offered her a temporary lease for her full salary of 6000 SYP every month. Amal had no choice but to take the lease. “Sometimes,” she told us, “I used to work for 24 hours continuously. Other time I worked for 48 hours without sleep, especially before the holidays.”
Amal was left exhausted by her constant struggle to keep her children and herself fed and clothed. She hadn’t heard from her husband since he’d left for Yemen; he hadn’t even called to inquire about the health of his children. She sued for divorce.
Amal’s hard work paid off. She kept receiving raises, as she struggled to quickly learn the skills necessary to achieve higher pay. There was a cost to pay, though, for her diligence. She no longer had time to see her children at all, and she fought against depression. “I have learned from my experience how an employer thinks,” she told us, somewhat bitterly. “He does not care about anything. The only thing that matters to him is the collection of money, while he considers those working for him as if they were slaves.”
