DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Damascus resident Hanan Marouf is forced to wake up early at 4 a.m. in order to sell the entire amount of milk she prepared for her customers. She knows that if it gets late, she will have to work on marketing it until 4 p.m., amid high prices and declining purchasing power of the population.
In Damascus, as in its countryside, hard jobs which require physical labor are no longer male-dominated jobs. Many Syrian women are ready to take on a double burden in order to work to ease the strains of life on their families.
Hanan, a mother of three, works in dairy production and sales. “This work drains me. I don’t have time for my children, who need care and upkeep. I have to work because my husband's income in agriculture is not enough for us."
During the Syrian war, many families in government-controlled areas lost their breadwinner – usually a husband or son – due to kidnapping, arrest, or killing. The percentage of males’ deaths from the Syrian war reached 82%, according to a study released in 2017 by the government-affiliated Damascus Center for Research and Studies.
As a result, the percentage of women and girls working in government-controlled areas increased, in light of the low standard of living of many families. It has become common to see large numbers of girls working in cafes, in Hal market, or as drivers for public or other means of transportation. These and other professions were previously restricted to men.
Reham Mahmoud says that she is the only breadwinner for her mother and three siblings. She works as an egg seller inside a popular market, earning only 2,000 pounds per day (just over a dollar at the time of this report). She gives her family 1,500 pounds and keeps the rest for herself.
Reham works from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m., but she believes that only doubling her wages will help her to bear the large costs of living.
"My dream is to enroll in college to continue my education, but we do not have enough money to meet our living needs," Reham added.
Haditha Rarboun, a mother of ten who lives in Darousha in Rif Dimashq, works in agriculture selling vegetables and fruits in markets in the city center of Damascus. "I need to work in order to live amid these difficult conditions. I don't like sitting without work and asking others for help."
The war has led many Syrian women work in domains they did not work in before, such as portering, working in restaurants, delivering orders, and other jobs.
Though some women are forced to work to provide for their families, there are women who enjoy the professions they have adopted. Razan Hasan, from Damascus, works as a cook at a restaurant in the city. "I love my work despite its difficulties and risks. It makes me glad when I see satisfaction on the customers’ faces, as they appreciate the dishes I present to them."
Syrian economic reports say that many sectors of the Syrian market are witnessing an increasing demand for female workers to fill the gaps left by males. The percentage of female workers in markets and public places has reached 80%.
The high percentage of working women may indicate a change in the stereotypical image of women in Syrian society. However, the entry of Syrian women to markets for work, especially in Damascus, was not mostly due to changes in culture or customs, but rather due to the pressures of life and the high cost of living.