[News] Palestinian women face daily battle

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Palestinian women face daily battle
by
Tuesday 08 February 2005 10:16 AM GMT

[]
Life for Palestinian women living in the occupied territories is comparable 
to an assault course as they face a daily battle trying to work to feed 
their families, a report says.

A new report released on Tuesday documenting the role of Palestinian women 
in the labour market released by the International Confederation of Free 
Trade Unions (ICFTU) has said that although generally well qualified, 
Palestinian women remain on the margins of the labour market.

Within the current climate of mass unemployment and underpaid jobs, they 
bear the brunt of the crisis, playing an essential role in the coping 
strategies of their families and communities.

The report discusses how factors such as labour market segregation keep 
Palestinian women out of salaried employment, and features portraits of 
women working within Palestine.

The new <http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991221250>Trade 
Union World Briefing underlines how labour market segregation penalises 
Palestinian women who remain largely concentrated in the industrial zones, 
domestic work, and primarily, agriculture - a sector where the work they do 
is often unpaid.

"This is our first study on Palestine which involved months of research on 
the ground (scanning for interviews, analysing the situation in Palestine, 
developing contacts) prior to and following our mission there," Barbara 
Kwateng of ICFTU told Aljazeera.net

"Our mission for this report started in January 2004. We engaged a local 
researcher to update information - some interviews were conducted after the 
mission (last summer) and the report is only being launched today."

Escape from poverty

Curfews, roadblocks and border closure which characterise the occupation 
have led to the bankruptcy of various industries traditionally employing 
women, such as the textile sector.

As a result, the majority of Palestinian women have turned to some kind of 
home-based employment in an attempt to escape poverty.

The Palestine's General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) general 
secretary, Shahir Said, said: "The most pressing need for workers is the 
ability to reach their workplace, so that they can bring home the bread and 
milk to feed their families.

"The Israeli secret services have themselves admitted that no Palestinian 
worker has ever been involved in a suicide bombing."

Unofficial work

But the work done at home is not considered official, is not protected by 
any laws, and does not provide them with a proper salary.

"How can we defend them (Palestinian women) when they are not considered as 
genuine workers by the law?"

"Because they are the first to lose their jobs, women accept deplorable 
working conditions, making pickles, for example, or other food products in 
their homes.

"But how can we defend them when they are not considered genuine workers by 
the law?" explains Abla Masruja, women's coordinator of PGFTU, an ICFTU 
affiliate.

Negative trends

In addition to discrimination in the labour market, they also have to cope 
with negative trends in Palestinian society - for example, the rise of 
conservative ideas and the upsurge in early marriages arranged by families 
who, driven by mounting poverty, are anxious to be freed of mouths to feed.

Those women employed outside the home all-too-often carry the burden of 
moral disgrace, a factor deterring others from even looking for work after 
leaving school.

Zahira Kamal, Palestinian Authority's minister of women's affairs, said: 
"It is not for lack of education that they are not working. It's a question 
of mentalities and attitudes."

At the end of secondary school, 80% of the best pupils are girls.

"Many young women don't even apply for a job when they finish their 
studies. In such a context there are no development returns on the 
investment in education.

"Disapproval of women's work, even in the absence of a male breadwinner, is 
a major obstacle in the way of women seeking salaried employment," Kamal added.

Family commitments

The young women who do nonetheless enter the labour market often see their 
careers come to an end when they have children, such are the difficulties 
in combining work and family responsibilities, given the appalling lack of 
childcare facilities.


"For all women, it is a daily battle to meet the basic needs of the family. 
Getting to work, to school with the children, to the market, to the 
hospital or to the houses of friends and relatives ... is like trying to 
get round an assault course, with all the roadblocks and military 
operations, Masruja said.

While the election of Mahmud Abbas as president of the Palestinian National 
Authority has brought new hopes of progress, the briefing expresses the 
desire that women trade unionists from both sides of the conflict might 
play a role in advancing the cause of peace.

The ICFTU represents 145 million workers in 233 affiliated organisations in 
154 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a partner in Global Unions.

Fact File

The average Palestinian income is $1.70 a day

The average salary of women in the textile industry is $130 in the West 
Bank and under $78 in Gaza

Women account for less than 12% of the Palestinian labour force, despite 
having an average of 13 years' schooling

Sixty-six per cent of Palestinian women workers are employed in the 
informal sector

Women heads of family rose from 7% in 1997 to 11% in 2003

The poverty rate of households in which the woman is the breadwinner is 1.3 
times higher than that of households where the man is head of the family

Aljazeera
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C844002F-6A16-47ED-8BA9-1FBE93C2FD83.htm 



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