Tunisia - People sell used goods, such as clothes, shoes, and utensils. You can buy the goods at the flea markets very cheaply. In Tunisia, nearly 20,000 women make a living by selling used or second-hand goods at flea markets. Maybe, you think this number is very high but this is reality. 90% of women living in Tunisia prefer or have to prefer to buy used goods.

Women make a living by selling used goods

COVID-19 pandemic threw the global economy into crisis. The economic crisis mostly affects women in the Middle East. 90% of Tunisian women have to buy used clothes, goods due to the economic crisis. And nearly 20,000 Tunisian women have to sell used goods to make a living. They shout, “Dirt cheap” to invite the clients to buy their goods.

Olfa: Patriarchy does not bring home the bread

30-year-old Olfa S. studied in trade at a university in Tunisia. She couldn’t find a job so she decided to do her father’s job. She sells used clothes at flea markets. For her, the worst thing about this job is the pressure from the municipal police. “Sometimes municipal police come and seize all of our goods. And we cannot bring home the bread,” Olfa said she didn’t want to choose this job but she had to do this job because she couldn’t find any job, “When people see a woman selling the goods, they think differently. We live in a patriarchal society and we are subjected to many attacks but we have to make sacrifices for our children and our families. Patriarchy doesn’t bring home the bread…”

“After you pass years behind market stall…”

Olfa sells used clothes even if she graduated from university. “I had a hard time at first. I always met people pulling me down. I didn’t do a shameful job. I stand on my own legs. But after you pass years behind market stall, you learn many things. I first learned how people feel, their class differences.  Their consumption habits and how overconsumption can change the world.”

She demands the period of work permit to be extended

Olfa told us that the effects of the economic crisis in her country are getting worse and it mostly affects women. Women have to take a work permit to sell used goods at the markets and they only can take a six-month permit from the government. Olfa demands the period of the work permit to be extended by a year or five years.