Palestinian Women Seek Equality in Work Force
August 24, 1999 - 0:0
GAZA -- Nariman al-Aklouk, a Palestinian mother of nine living in the Gaza Strip, defied tradition when she became the breadwinner in place of her injured husband. Aklouk, 42, stepped out of the accustomed woman's role as homemaker in Palestinian-ruled area and began selling clothing in refugee camps. For most women in Gaza, however, life tends to focus on caring for a large family amid poverty.
"In the beginning people were reluctant to accept that I had left my house to go to work," said Aklouk, wearing a traditional black dress and white head scarf. "I had wanted to work long before I actually started but my family did not accept it." She said that there was no alternative after her husband, a former construction worker, suffered a debilitating back injury.
Women represented 11.3 percent of the work force in 1998 in Palestinian-ruled Gaza and the West Bank, basically unchanged from 1997, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said. Women comprise 53 percent of the population, according to Jamila Saidam, a lawmaker and co-founder of the General Women's Union in Gaza. "Unfortunately our community is still that of men. Women still have to struggle to achieve equality in education and at work," Saidam said.
Many women in Gaza complain that cultural restrictions deprive them of their right to work and at best relegate them to low-level positions in the labor force. "Women cannot be accepted as general directors. They are most preferable as secretaries," said Andaleeb Shehada, a representative of the Women's Affairs Center in Gaza. Shehada said that men believed "raising children was a better job for them (women)". Improving Women's Opportunities But Gaza's Muslem religious leader, Mufti Abdel-Karim al-Kahlout, said under Islam, women could work in various professions as long as they followed religious principles.
"We need women to work as doctors and as teachers. There were no restrictions on women to work as long as they behave according to the rules of Islam." Women are basically employed in two sectors, agriculture and services, the PCBS said. Saidam said many men were open to women holding positions of power but that an "influential minority" was preventing them from fully integrating into the work force.
She said the fact that five women serve in the 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council was evidence that women were slowly gaining the equality due to them. Labor Outlook Changing Despite what she sees as an uphill battle, Saidam is optimistic that women will improve their lot in the workplace. She said decades under Zionists' occupation, helped keep women out of the work force.
"Women are in need of a continued and strong push into the labor sector because it's our right to do so. It's not a gift," Saidam said. (Reuter)
"In the beginning people were reluctant to accept that I had left my house to go to work," said Aklouk, wearing a traditional black dress and white head scarf. "I had wanted to work long before I actually started but my family did not accept it." She said that there was no alternative after her husband, a former construction worker, suffered a debilitating back injury.
Women represented 11.3 percent of the work force in 1998 in Palestinian-ruled Gaza and the West Bank, basically unchanged from 1997, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said. Women comprise 53 percent of the population, according to Jamila Saidam, a lawmaker and co-founder of the General Women's Union in Gaza. "Unfortunately our community is still that of men. Women still have to struggle to achieve equality in education and at work," Saidam said.
Many women in Gaza complain that cultural restrictions deprive them of their right to work and at best relegate them to low-level positions in the labor force. "Women cannot be accepted as general directors. They are most preferable as secretaries," said Andaleeb Shehada, a representative of the Women's Affairs Center in Gaza. Shehada said that men believed "raising children was a better job for them (women)". Improving Women's Opportunities But Gaza's Muslem religious leader, Mufti Abdel-Karim al-Kahlout, said under Islam, women could work in various professions as long as they followed religious principles.
"We need women to work as doctors and as teachers. There were no restrictions on women to work as long as they behave according to the rules of Islam." Women are basically employed in two sectors, agriculture and services, the PCBS said. Saidam said many men were open to women holding positions of power but that an "influential minority" was preventing them from fully integrating into the work force.
She said the fact that five women serve in the 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council was evidence that women were slowly gaining the equality due to them. Labor Outlook Changing Despite what she sees as an uphill battle, Saidam is optimistic that women will improve their lot in the workplace. She said decades under Zionists' occupation, helped keep women out of the work force.
"Women are in need of a continued and strong push into the labor sector because it's our right to do so. It's not a gift," Saidam said. (Reuter)