Gaza: Women take on new kinds of work

Ma'an - While unemployment in Gaza remains as high as 70 percent, women have become breadwinners for families as traditional jobs in factories and construction disappear in the thick of Israel's siege.

With women increasingly involved in the informal economy, some say they have pushed out men in cases, now competing for the same low-level jobs wherever they can be found.

Aminah Abu Maghasib, 37, is one of a growing number of women who has started digging small water reservoirs for Gaza homes. She is proud of her work, and says it not only helps families access water when they need it, but also provides some income for herself and others.

It's hard labor, she concedes, "but the harsh living conditions have forced so many women to work in this field."

Aminah has seven children. She sat down with Ma'an and explained why she, and not her husband, was working as a laborer.

"The conditions of my life are harder than those of this job, of digging the reservoir; I am ready to do anything for my family, to provide for them," she says.

Aminah’s husband is unable to work, she says, because he is is ill and needs surgery. "My children need to go to school, but me? I have nothing do do except work, so I do."

Where Aminah works, in fact, it is all women. Realizing that a large number of Gaza mothers seek to support their families, one company started a division of diggers with no men so the women would feel more comfortable.

The stories of the women that work alongside Aminah are similar to hers; husbands injured, killed or otherwise unable to work. While no one Ma'an spoke with on the issue would say that the women should not provide for their families, some said women were taking work opportunities better suited to men.