War forces women in Yemen to break from traditional roles
ADEN: Women in Yemen are being forced by the war to break from traditional roles and go out to work to support their families.
In Taiz, Hafsah bint Raweh described to Arab News how she had to start selling vegetables house-to-house after her husband had a stroke.
“We have two difficult choices: Either to work or to see our families starve to death, so many women including myself decided to work,” Hafsah said.
The mother of five wakes early to buy zucchinis and leeks from the market and before selling them on to her customers.
As the four-year war has dragged on and the economic and humanitarian situation deteriorated, many other women have had to go out to work to support their families.
“Food is the most important thing for people, so when women lose their breadwinners and they don’t find someone to help, immediately they choose to work,” Naef Nouraddin, a social worker in Taiz, said.
Before the war, which has killed more than 10,000 people and sparked a vast humanitarian crisis, it was rare for women in many areas to leave their homes and interact with men in public places. Amani Abdullah, in her 20s, had no choice but to work when her father died in Taiz in 2016.
When she needed work, she decided to set up a small stationery stand near the institute.
Initially, she was worried about how people would react to her, a single woman, working outside.
But she soon realized that people felt sympathy for her and did not judge her for working.
“Now I can take care of my family,” she said.