Zuhur Al-Mashrqi

Tunisia - The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has created economic crisis in all countries around the world. Tunisia is one of these countries. Tunisian people especially women have found themselves facing many challenges, including losing their work, because more than 60% of small and medium companies have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Women are most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the feminist organizations in Tunisia. The organizations say that women have been subjected to many forms of violence, including economic, physical, and psychological violence during the pandemic.

JINHA Women’s News Agency talked to many Tunisian women about what they have faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.

50-year-old Dalilah Ayari is from the capital Tunisia, she is a divorced woman living alone. She works in the Cosmetic sector. “Pandemic and poverty destroy my life; I have been materially and morally affected by the pandemic. I couldn’t get emergency financial help from the state. I have to pay the rent of my shop but I can’t afford it. Unfortunately, the state considers the cosmetic sector as a marginalized sector, and it hasn't any legal guarantees or social coverage,” said Dalilah Ayari while talking about what she has faced during the pandemic.

40-year-old Fawzia Al-Abed is married and the mother of two children. She worked for a sweet factory located in Bizerte city north of Tunisia. She said, “Everything started when the factory was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I lost my job. My husband worked in the construction sector but he also lost his job during the pandemic. Now we didn’t have money to buy our basic needs. So, we had to leave our house and now we live in my family’s house. The Covid-19 pandemic left us homeless.”

25-year-old Marwa Abdullah is a single woman working as a waitress in a café. “I am a waitress and I have to work 10 hours every day. We are at risk because we have to service dozens of customers. I have to keep working to support my family. The state should think about the situation of women working in the private sector.”

Nearly 30,000 out of 100,000 women work as waitresses in Tunisia, according to official statistics.

50-years-old Zainab Al-Malali is a widow living alone in a rented house. She worked as a tailor before the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. “After the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, I faced many difficulties. I lost my job. I don’t have any health insurance, a retirement salary, or aid. I stand on my legs by making face masks from leftover fabrics that I buy from factories.”

Sociologist Sabreen Agroudi said, “Women have lost their jobs and left homeless. This situation put them in danger. They may face various forms of violence. Many women become unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They are suffering from psychological and personal disorders.  They are unhappy and feeling of helplessness. So this causes the loss of self-confidence among women.”

More than 161,000 people have been lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate increased by 17, 4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, says the report prepared by the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics,

According to the National Survey on Population and Employment, the number of unemployed people reached 725.1 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2020.

And the unemployment rate among men increased by 14.4 %, while the rate of unemployment among women increased by 24.9% in the fourth quarter of 2020.