Syrian female workers face GBV, discrimination amid poor legal protection

Introduction and Methodology

Since over a decade, the conflict in Syria has led to the deterioration of the country’s economy, where poverty impacted over 90 percent of Syria’s population, with hundreds of thousands of families living under the poverty line in unsafe camps and shelters as a result of war. This has forced women and girls to be subjected to the worst forms of gender-based violence, particularly amid inaccessibility to resources and stereotyping of their roles. In addition, legal systems of several authorities do not guarantee them adequate social care, economic and legal empowerment.

Many women working in agriculture, industry, and domestic service are prone to exploitation by their bosses, not to mention negative discrimination in work conditions. Hence, women’s work changes from a right into a violation of their dignity, especially for women and girls who bear the responsibility of their families after the loss of the breadwinner. They work without contracts of employment that guarantee their rights, enduring many hardships to make a living. This includes working for long hours and earning low wages, in addition to legal and health risks to the women who widely turned to working in a typical occupations after the start of the war in Syria.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which falls on Nov. 25, the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press interviewed nine women working in various areas in Syria to shed light on most prominent difficulties that face the economically-vulnerable groups in business. Moreover, this report shows the extent of the intersection of economic oppression with legal ignorance and its impact on all aspects of their lives.

Low wages

Amina Hassan, 42, from the village of al-Qanaya in the western countryside of Kobani, northern Syria, whose husband is dead, said, “I have been working in farming for several months, doing all sorts of cultivation and harvesting work for an average of ten hours a day with a daily wage of 20,000 Syrian pounds (SYP, about $1.3), which is very low compared to working hours, especially considering the high prices.”

The widow supports her four daughters, including two young girls, which forced her to work in this physically draining job.

“I go through psychological and physical hardships. After I finish farming, I immediately start with household chores such as cooking, laundry, and other domestic tasks. All of these are my responsibilities to ensure the well-being of my family,” she added.

Many women, due to limited resources stemming from poverty and disruption of education, are compelled to engage in low-income jobs. “My daily income barely pays for food. I have to endure because I do not have better job alternatives, and I am illiterate,” Amina noted.

Moreover, employers discriminate between female workers and treat them unequally, as Amina witnessed. “Some women would take a one-hour break per day,” she said, “While others would work continuously. The employer would also demand them to speed up their work.”

The situation was not different for Fatima al-Musa, 31, who lives in a tent in a camp on the Syrian-Turkish border near the town of Atmeh in the north of Idlib, northwestern Syria.

Al-Musa leaves her tent every morning before sunrise to go to farmlands and harvest olives from 7 am to 4 pm in exchange for a daily wage that at best does not exceed 50 Turkish liras (equals about $1.6), but she is forced to work in order to support her five children and her diabetic husband who was injured during the war.

Al-Musa, who hails from the northern countryside of Hama, in west central Syria, said that working for more than eight hours a day completely exhausts her energy, and when she returns, she finds a messy house left by her young children and disabled husband. Then, she starts cleaning and cooking for over three hours, and takes care of her husband, bearing responsibilities that no one else can handle, as she expressed.

Due to her urgent need to provide for her household and family, al-Musa has to work in harvesting olives on a daily basis. “I have to work because I am responsible for a family. There is no other breadwinner but me. The daily wage I receive barely covers half of our daily needs, apart from my husband’s medications,” she said.

Al-Musa endures this exhausting work instead of pursuing a less demanding and more beneficial job because of a previous unpleasant experience she went through. “I tried working in other jobs many times, but I could not continue because the environment was often mixed-gender, and my husband does not allow me, especially after one of the individuals I used to work with in a restaurant tried to sexually harass me,” al-Musa noted.

Abuse and exploitation

Fatima al-Ali, 28, a widow and mother of four children, was displaced from the southern countryside of Aleppo after her husband died in shelling carried out by the Syrian government forces. They currently reside in the Turinde (Zarifa) camp in the city of Afrin northern Syria.

Regarding the circumstances that forced her to work and the challenges she faced, al-Ali said, “The humanitarian aid provided to the displaced families were insufficient. I was forced to work in a sewing workshop in the al-Ashrafiyeh neighborhood in Afrin for a low wage.”

“As a woman whose husband died, I was sexually harassed by the supervisors at work. They used me to attend to their guests at the workshop, where I experienced numerous verbal harassments,” she added.

Many women suffer from a reality of exploitation and abuse when they become the sole breadwinner for their families. “Being the only breadwinner for my children, I played the role of mother and father in managing the affairs of my tent,” the widow said. “I work in cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children. I spent most nights in tears upset over my children being orphans, unable to provide everything they need. The total amount I earn in a week, working ten hours a day, is 300 Turkish liras (equals about $10).”

Breached rights

Widad, 47, from the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, said “I accepted a meager wage working in the house of an elderly woman, but her daughter fired me.”

“Now, I have to search for another job, but my options are limited. I do not have a degree that would qualify me to be accepted in a government institution and I do not have any skills.”

Despite her belief that she would maintain her position as a housekeeper in a home care facility for the elderly in Qamishli, Widad’s expectations were shattered when she was arbitrarily dismissed without any warning or compensation. Her work arrangement lacked official recognition and a proper contract that would have ensured her entitlements, such as a defined employment period and severance benefits. Overnight, she found herself in a vulnerable situation, compelled to seek alternative employment.

Legal framework

Article 23/1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the right of women to work and equal opportunities. The Syrian Constitution explicitly addresses the right to work and gender equality in Articles 19, 33, and 40(1). These provisions emphasize the importance of ensuring equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of gender, to access various positions in the workforce. However, despite these constitutional guarantees, there are numerous forms of employment in Syria that lack regulation, fall outside the purview of the national income, operate in the informal economy, and consequently, do not provide adequate legal protection for workers.

Employing women and girls without contracts that guarantee and safeguard their health and retirement rights exposes them to exploitation in terms of wages and compensation. They find themselves controlled and abused by their employers. They may lose their jobs for the simplest malicious causes, such as rejecting harassment or other avoidable circumstances if economic empowerment projects, currently provided and supported by some civil society organizations were established and activated. This can help eliminate occupational illiteracy and address formal education dropout rates at different stages. Women’s workforce and their achievement of economic independence must be protected by clear legal provisions to reduce the risks of gender-based violence.

The exploitation of female workers by employers through low wages is considered a violation of their rights and classified as economic violence and a form of discrimination against women in the unregulated labor market. This includes disparities in wage rates, working hours, and worker rights, particularly after 2011, amidst the control of multiple authorities, each with its own legal system characterized by legislative loopholes and tax evasion. All of these factors contribute to the exploitation of female workers, including girls and minors, in inhumane working conditions that undermine their dignity and result in the deprivation of their rights. This occurs within a context of inequality and entrenched gender discrimination.

Syria has been a party to the two international covenants protecting economic and social rights since 1976. It ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 111 concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation in 1958, as well as ILO Convention No. 100 concerning Equal Remuneration in 1951, specifically in Article 2.

Furthermore, Syria has ratified the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) in 2003. It is known that the contracting committees responsible for monitoring the implementation of international agreements and treaties demand that the ratifying countries submit a national report and a shadow report every four years. However, these reports do not adequately consider transparency and comprehensive awareness of all aspects of the struggles faced by hardworking women. To this day, there are women and girls who are not allowed by male family members to freely dispose of the money they have earned from their work. Additionally, women and girls do not receive any compensation for their caregiving and societal roles, which is not accounted for in the national income calculation. Moreover, employers exploit tens of thousands of underage girls in hazardous work, including activities such as prostitution and disguised begging, which pose risks to their physical and mental health.

All of this necessitates a comprehensive review of existing legislation governing the rights of female workers to provide broader protection and enhance their knowledge and professional empowerment. Such a review should consider the gender roles that have emerged during the Syrian crisis, which represent a progression in the ongoing journey to eliminate gender stereotypes and discrimination against women in all fields.