Suspension employees' salaries lead women to beg on streets
English - Saturday 03 August 2019 الساعة 06:48 pm
Aden – NewsYemen.net
Just as a war and suspension of salaries have opened up new jobs for some women, in such circumstances other women have pushed into negative coping mechanisms, including debt, begging, prostitution.
The Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies concluded a recent field report on the impact of the war on the economy and the employment of women in particular.
The report notes that the labor market challenges paid by the conflict in Yemen have affected on women; the war affected women in the labor force more than men, in 2015, male employment declined by 11%, while female employment declined by 28%.
According to the report, these figures may vary at the local level. While women's employment in Sana'a has declined by 43% due to the severe damage to the private sector, the number of women working in Aden has already increased by 11%
In 2015, the report concluded that women-owned enterprises were more affected than male-owned companies, although the number of companies actually affected was much lower, accounting for only 4% of all companies before the conflict, while 26% of companies in Trade sectors, services and industry were closed by 2015, according to the report
According to the report, the rate rose to 42% among women-owned companies, usually due to material damage, in addition to loss of capital and lack of electricity and fuel
According to the report, women entrepreneurs found it harder than their male counterparts to access bank accounts in dollars, according to a study conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Food Production and Sale Clothing Online
The suspension of civil service salaries in September 2016 impacted on the livelihoods of civil servants, as well as millions of Yemeni as sponsors for their families, while some civil servants continued to work, but without regular pay, others were gone to be paid to other occupations, Yemeni women who were nurses and teachers are now working in sewing and hairdressing
According to the report, the physical need has led an increasing number of women to start new projects, often home-based businesses such as producing food at home to sell, or selling clothing and accessories online and social media
The report pointed to the entry of women into occupations that were closed to them due to cultural constraints, such as: working as a waitress or a retailer, despite regional disparities, even in the provinces
While, in Taiz city for example, some women entered labor markets for the first time during the conflict, some research revealed that, Islamist militant groups have limited women's ability to move and have lost their jobs
The report confirmed the recruitment of some women in the security forces to the parties to the conflict. Women were recruited in the Popular Resistance in Taiz, where they operated checkpoints and participated in storming houses, like the Houthi women known as al-Zainabeyat.
Force women to work hard in low wages
The report pointed out that the child marriage increased dramatically during the conflict, where families resorted to marrying their daughters early to secure dowry payments and not to care for them, noting also the increase in the rate of gender-based violence by 63%, and in some areas, women are less able to leave home because of security concerns.
According to the report, some women have been forced to do informal low-wage work, such as cleaning houses, collecting firewood and washing clothes. However, the report mentioned some research indicating that women's increased participation in the labor force had positive effects, such as increasing women's role in family decision-making
"In some families where women have started to earn income and manage the family, men have assumed the responsibilities of traditional women such as cooking, childcare and fetching water, the report quoted women as saying
While the report referred to a significant change in a male society, it concluded that this also increased domestic conflict, includin
g verbal and physical abuse of women and children
Moreover, information from women and men reported that the conflict had a negative impact on marital relations because men were frustrated by their loss of the role of breadwinner in some cases, and in other cases because women were locked up at home because of the deteriorating security situation, which made them more dependent on their husbands
