A double crisis: the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on Syrian refugee women in Jordan

Abstract

This study explores the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) and its accompanying measures, such as lockdowns, business closures and social distancing, on refugee women’s working and living conditions. Based on semi-structured interviews with Syrian refugee women and representatives of national and international organisations in Jordan, the research highlights the extent of structural power imbalances in gender. The research findings show that COVID-19 and its associated restrictions have severely impacted Syrian refugee women’s economic security and well-being because of existing inequalities and post-migration vulnerabilities. The findings also suggest that the inequalities regard to the structural power imbalances in gender roles made Syrian women more vulnerable compared to their male counterparts in the face of the COVID-19 crisis in Jordan. Furthermore, the COVID-19 restrictions led refugees to confinement at home, with an increased risk of domestic violence. Finally, the findings suggest that a gendered analysis of the vulnerabilities is required when government agencies or humanitarian organisations plan their programmes and services during a global health crisis.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• refugees
• vulnerability
• gender inequality
• domestic violence
• Jordan

Introduction

Almost every part of the world has been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, many countries have tightened border controls, restricted travel, and implemented nationwide lockdown measures (Kluge et al. 2020). These restrictions may have helped control COVID-19 but have also triggered unprecedented disruption in individuals’ lives. Several studies point out that COVID-19 measures, such as nationwide lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing, have exacerbated existing inequalities in society, their social and economic impacts weighing heavily on those already living in poor conditions (Deaton 2021; Furceri et al. 2021).

Refugees, a particularly vulnerable segment of society, have been hit significantly due to their precarious conditions before the COVID-19 crisis (Mukumbang, Ambe, and Adebiyi 2020). Refugees may find themselves in vulnerable living and working conditions for various reasons, including legal restrictions on the labour market, poor financial support, insufficient healthcare facilities and lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene in a hosting country. Research by Kluge et al. (2020) indicates that refugees usually live in densely populated camps where social distancing, access to water for regular handwashing, and other hygiene measures recommended to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are unavailable. Crawley (2021) argues that the threat to refugees is associated with the increasing exclusion of politics of protection during the COVID-19 crisis. Studies have explored the impact of the global health crisis on refugees’ livelihood and integration, pointing out the most devastating consequences of COVID-19 on displaced people (Açıkalın, Eminoğlu, and Erçetin 2022; Betts, Easton-Calabria, and Pincock 2021). However, little research has been conducted on the specific impact of the COVID-19 crisis on refugee women, even though around 50% of refugees worldwide are women and girls (UNHCR 2022a). This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on refugee women by paying attention to the existing inequalities and post-migration vulnerabilities.

There was already a significant gender gap in employment before the COVID-19 crisis, as the labour market outcomes for refugee women are often lower than those of their male counterparts, regardless of destination country (SRU 2021; Liebig and Tronstad 2018). In addition, refugee women are more likely to experience poor mental health due to both pre-migration experiences, such as war trauma and fear of persecution, and post-migration challenges (Aragona et al. 2021). Tolin and Foa (2008) found that refugee women are twice as likely as men to meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. Refugee women are also disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence, one of the most humiliating and damaging human rights violations across borders. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA 2019) data found that one in five internally displaced or refugee women experienced gender-based violence before the COVID-19 crisis. Thus, this study raises two main questions to investigate the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on refugee women, based on semi-structured interviews with Syrian women and representatives of national and international organisations in Jordan:

1. To what extent have COVID-19 and its accompanying restrictions affected Syrian refugee women’s working and living conditions in Jordan?

2. How have COVID-19 lockdowns influenced the domestic violence among Syrian refugee women in Jordan?

There are three main reasons for focusing on Syrian refugees in Jordan as a case study. Firstly, the Syrians in Jordan do not qualify as refugees legally, as the country has not signed either the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol as of December 2022. This legally ambiguous status of Syrians exacerbates their vulnerability compared to Syrian refugees in other countries. Secondly, the country hosts the third-highest number of Syrian refugees (660,892) as of January 2023, and more than half of the registered Syrians are women (UNHCR 2023). Thirdly, little is known about the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in the context of displacement in a developing country, even though 83% of refugees are hosted in developing countries (UNHCR 2022a). In this regard, Jordan serves as an exemplary case study in the Global South for evaluating the impact of COVID-19 and the preventive measures on refugee women’s livelihoods both inside and outside of camps.

Syrian refugee women in Jordan are not homogeneous; they are diverse in terms of their educational background, age, employment status, social class, ethnicity, religious beliefs, cultural norms and household composition. These differences are likely to be associated with the level of impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Syrian women’s livelihood. Thus, the research aims to demonstrate how existing gender inequalities and post-migration vulnerabilities exacerbate the effect of COVID-19 and its associated measures on refugee women rather than creating hierarchical vulnerabilities within the refugee community.

The contextual details: Jordan as a receiving country of Syrian refugees and its refugee policy

The violent repression of the Syrian civil war has generated the world’s largest displacement crisis in modern times. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR 2022a) data indicates that approximately 6.8 million Syrians have been forced to leave their home country in search of safety since 2011. Jordan is one of the main destination countries for displaced Syrians as it is a neighbouring country, but it is difficult to estimate the exact number of Syrian refugees in Jordan due to documentation and registration issues (Krafft et al. 2018). The Jordanian government estimates that there are 1.36 million Syrian refugees, around 15% of Jordan’s total population as of 2020 (GoJ 2020). However, UNHCR (2023) data indicates that there are 660,892 registered refugees as of January 2023; this difference suggests that not all Syrian refugees are registered. The Jordanian Ministry of Interior has issued Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR a Ministry of Interior service card (‘MoI-card’) since 2014 (Achilli 2016). However, Syrians who entered the country using false documents cannot register; those who have left the camps illegally are also prohibited from registering for a MoI-card in Jordan (Krafft et al. 2018). Thus, many Syrians continue to reside in illegal positions in the country.

Most Syrian refugees in Jordan reside in urban areas, while 19.5% of them live in camps (UNHCR 2023). More than half of the Syrian population (50.1%) are women. Syrian refugees are not equally distributed throughout the country; the largest registered refugee population (196,539) was located in the capital, Amman, as of January 2023 (UNHCR 2023).

Jordan has not ratified the 1951 Geneva Convention or its 1967 Protocol; the Jordanian government does not recognise the displaced Syrians as refugees on a legal basis (Al Qaralleh 2022).¹ A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Jordanian government and UNHCR in 1998 that provides guidance for Jordan’s response to the refugee crisis (De Bel-Air 2016). The MoU explains Jordan’s commitment to treat displaced people based on universal human rights principles to access education, health, religious practice and freedom of movement. Under the agreement, the UNHCR (2012) is responsible for determining a refugee’s status, and Jordan commits to respecting the principle of non-refoulement.

The Jordanian government implemented an open-door policy that offered displaced Syrians a safe refuge from 2011 to 2014, although later, the policy became more restrictive and regulated (Al-Soleiti et al. 2021). As a result of the open-door policy between 2011 and 2014, the Jordanian government opened official refugee camps: Zaatari, Mrajeeb al-Fhood, Azraq and King Abdullah Park (Rozo and Sviatschi 2021). Moreover, the Jordanian Council of Ministers decided in 2013 to establish the Syrian Refugee Affairs Administration, which is charged with improving the level of services provided to refugees in Jordan (Al Qaralleh 2022). Thus, the official policy allowed Syrian refugees to seek shelter in the country, although their right to work was restricted until 2016.

As the war in Syria escalated, especially after the establishment of the Islamic State (ISIS) in July 2014, the Jordanian government started securitising the Syrian refugees in the country (Alshoubaki and Harris 2018). A closed border was put in place by Jordan in April 2014, and all informal border crossings to Syria were closed as well (Achilli 2016). Moreover, the crisis affected the institutional structure of the Jordanian government, placing an additional burden on the country’s social and financial resources. As a result of the substantial limitations of the Jordanian economy, national governance instruments were unable to meet the needs of refugee communities without assistance from the international community.

It became a global crisis in 2015 when the refugee crisis reached Europe (Martin 2016). Jordanian authorities interpreted this as a chance to argue for sharing responsibilities worldwide as the refugee crisis is a global issue (Alshoubaki 2018). To support Syrian refugees and vulnerable populations in Jordan, the ‘Jordan Compact’ was signed between the European Union (EU) and Jordan in February 2016 (Lenner and Turner 2019). The Jordanian government has agreed to ease its restrictive regulations regarding refugees’ right to work and to provide them with new employment opportunities (Barbelet, Hagen-Zanker, and Mansour-Ille 2018). For its part, the EU has offered Jordanian companies tariff-free access to its markets on the condition that they employ a certain percentage of Syrian refugees. It was the focus of the Jordan Compact 2016 to ensure that Syrian refugees were able to integrate into the labour market as urban Syrian refugees, and that those who resided in the camps had the right to work. As a result, the Jordanian government has entered into a more comprehensive and long-term partnership with the international community beginning in 2016.

The UNHCR provides food assistance to Syrian refugees in urban areas and camps, but they must be registered with the UNHCR and have a MoI-card to receive social and financial assistance (Salemi, Bowman, and Compton 2018). The World Food Programme screens Syrian refugees to determine eligibility for food support based on their needs (Krafft et al. 2018). Syrian refugees in the camps receive monthly food e-vouchers valued at 23 Jordanian Dinars (USD 32) per person per month (WFP 2020). Most Syrians do not have a regular income to meet their daily needs, as around 80% of Syrian refugees live below the poverty line in the country (UNHCR 2022b). This makes Syrian refugees reliant on humanitarian aid, especially during a social and economic crisis compounded by COVID-19.

Moreover, Syrians have access to health facilities run by international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government entities in the camps in Jordan. However, the healthcare system is overloaded due to the lack of healthcare services in the camps (El Arab and Sagbakken 2018). In addition, refugees who reside in urban areas have been subjected to policy changes over time. Initially, Syrians registered with the UNHCR were offered free healthcare in public healthcare centres in Jordan, but Jordanian authorities changed this policy in 2014. Registered Syrians have had to pay the service fee rate for uninsured Jordanians, plus a ‘foreigner’s fee’; those who do not hold a MoI-card are barred from public health services (Krafft et al. 2018). Thus, only those registered with UNHCR can access healthcare, education and cash assistance in Jordan. This makes unregistered Syrians more vulnerable in accessing basic services in the country.

Methodology

This paper draws on a combination of participant observations, semi-structured interviews with Syrian refugee women and representatives of national and international NGOs, and an analysis of NGO reports and existing academic articles. To explore the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on women’s livelihood, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Syrian refugee women who live in and outside camps across Jordan. The data was collected from March 2020 to June 2021. Participants were qualified for the study based on two inclusion criteria. First, participants must be of Syrian origin, who left Syria following the start of the refugee crisis in 2011 and are currently living in the camps or urban areas in Jordan; second, participants must be over 18 years of age.

I met with key informants, including representatives of local and international NGOs and academics working in refugee studies, to reach research participants. Through the assistance of NGO representatives, I established my first contact with Syrian women, and I then used a snowball method to contact further potential participants. This study made use of purposive sampling in combination with the snowball method, a nonprobability sampling technique that involves research participants recruiting other participants for a study (Gill and Bialski 2011).

Six of the research participants are camp residents; the other research participants are residents in Amman (seven), Mafraq (four), Irbid (four), Zarqa (two) and Balqa (one). The age of the interviewees ranged between 21 and 51 at the time of the interviews. In terms of educational level, four participants had a bachelor’s degree; six held a college (two-year university) degree; 11 held a high school degree, and the remaining three had completed primary school. Most Syrian research participants (20) had received their education in Syria, while the rest (four) received their educational certificates in Jordan. Only seven research participants were employed in the labour market, while the rest of them were either unemployed or not looking for a job. In addition to 24 interviews with Syrian refugee women, five semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants from international and national NGOs who work on gender-based violence in Jordan.

The COVID-19 crisis and preventive measures such as nationwide lockdowns and social distancing have changed data collection techniques for researchers. Telephone calls and software programs such as Zoom and Skype became essential when face-to-face interviews were infeasible (Dodds and Hess 2021). Thus, because of COVID-19 preventive measures in Jordan, 13 interviews were conducted via a telephone call, a means of communication based on participants’ preferences. Six interviews were completed via software programs, such as Zoom and Skype. The rest of the interviews (five) were conducted face-to-face. Finally, all (five) interviews with key informants were conducted via the Zoom software program.

Research on human subjects, particularly vulnerable populations, requires ethics standards to guide a researcher. Ethical issues faced while working with vulnerable people reflect unequal power hierarchies based on factors including race, gender and class (Bracken-Roche et al. 2017). Unequal power between researchers and research participants, and other potential challenges for conducting semi-structured interviews, were considered during the data collection. The locations and times of all interviews were chosen based on the research participants’ preferences. Additionally, when I spoke with the participants, I ensured that they were in a safe environment so that they could not be overheard. Finally, ethical clearance was obtained for this research.²

All research participants were informed about the research and their rights before the interviews. Participants were told they could retract their responses at any time. The oral consent of each interviewee was taken with guarantees of anonymity and confidentiality. Interviews were conducted in Arabic and English. The interviews ranged from 27 to 83 minutes. Finally, no personal identifiers are used in this study, and each participant was assigned a pseudonym.

The interviewees answered 20 questions to investigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on Syrian refugee women in Jordan. They were first asked about their demographic characteristics, such as age, marital status and education, and then they were asked how the COVID-19 restrictions have affected their daily life. Five main questions below portray the structure of the interviews:

1. How have the COVID-19 restrictions (such as nationwide lockdowns and social distancing) affected your life in Jordan?

2. Do you think it is more difficult for a woman to find a job during the COVID-19 crisis in Jordan? If so, can you explain the reasons?

3. Do you have any fear of getting COVID-19 in Jordan? If so, can you explain the reasons?

4. Do you think women have more household work during the COVID-19 crisis?

5. Have you experienced any type of domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis, or do you have any Syrian women friends around you who face domestic violence in Jordan?

The data analysis strategy followed content analysis, a research method determining the presence of keywords, themes and concepts within a given text – written, oral or visual (Coe and Scacco 2017; Graneheim, Lindgren, and Lundman 2017). This technique was used to draw conclusions about the impact of COVID-19 and the preventive measures on refugee women’s working and living conditions in Jordan. Finally, the software program NVivo, which allows a researcher to analyse open-ended responses to interview questions, was used in this study.

Invisible lives: gendered inequalities among Syrian refugees in Jordan

Individual and context-related situations, including socio-economic, demographic, and institutional factors, might expose refugees to harmful outcomes such as discrimination and isolation, which leads to vulnerable conditions (Sözer 2021; Salemi, Bowman, and Compton 2018). The concept of vulnerability is elastic as it is used in the context of multi-purposes. UNHCR (2016, 3) employs categorical criteria to explain vulnerability concepts such as ‘child, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, health and welfare concerns, and protection needs’. In addition, vulnerability is a vital concept of victimisation and exploitation for feminist theorising (Johansson and Wickström 2022; Mackenzie, Rogers, and Dodds 2014). It is used in the context of exploitation, threats to one’s interest, and harmful wrongs (Cole 2016); from some perspectives, it is also portrayed as ‘an ontological condition of humanity’ (Rogers, Mackenzie, and Dodds 2012, 19).

In this study, the concept of vulnerability is associated with marginalised individuals who are left defenceless in the face of the global health crisis. A refugee’s vulnerability depends on a number of factors, including their geographical location, their socio-economic level, and the welfare system in the country where they are being hosted. While not all Syrian refugee women are vulnerable in Jordan, the extent of power imbalances in gender roles makes them significantly more vulnerable than men. This research does not portray women’s vulnerabilities as static conditions; it points out the need to look at existing gender inequalities and post-migration precarious conditions of refugee women rather than anticipation of cumulated vulnerabilities. Finally, whilst this paper recognises that there are always exceptions, Syrian refugee women are considered vulnerable due to poor working conditions, labour market discrimination, inadequate access to healthcare, and domestic violence.

Several studies point out that vulnerability is not gender-neutral; gendered vulnerability is a common paradigm within refugee studies and policy discourse to indicate that refugee women are more vulnerable than men regarding employment, mental well-being, and various forms of gender-based violence (Sajdi et al. 2021; Bartels, Michael, and Bunting 2021; Zulver and Idler 2020). To illustrate, 215,668 work permits were issued for Syrian refugees in Jordan from 2016 to 2020, with only 11,054 (5%) of these being for women (SRU 2021). This result indicates that the contribution of Syrian refugee women to measured economic activity is far below their potential, with serious macroeconomic consequences, although more than half of registered Syrians are women in Jordan (UNHCR 2023). Syrian refugee women also tend to receive lower wages than their male counterparts, even when women have the same qualifications and occupations (Kattaa 2016, 73). The poor labour market outcomes of refugee women are persistent regardless of the destination country, even when human capital, household composition and acculturation factors have been taken into account (Liebig and Tronstad 2018; Koyama 2015; Potocky-Tripodi 2004, 61).

Legal regulations on the labour market are one of the obstacles Syrian refugee women face in Jordan. Syrian refugees were not permitted to work in the country until 2016. This meant that most Syrian refugees worked illegally in dangerous jobs before 2016 and were easily exploited in the labour market (Lenner and Turner 2019). Work permits for Syrian refugees were granted by a 2016 treaty signed between the European Union and the Jordanian government (Kelberer 2017). However, this agreement imposed certain restrictions to protect Jordanians. Syrians can obtain work permits in only three industries – construction, agriculture and manufacturing – traditionally male-dominated sectors in Jordan (Barbelet, Hagen-Zanker, and Mansour-Ille 2018, 5). This indicates that the Jordan Compact was written from a male perspective, reducing the employment opportunities for refugee women. In addition, the employment restrictions increase the possibility of de-professionalisation among highly skilled refugee women, including doctors, teachers and engineers. Therefore, refugee women in Jordan are forced to work in the informal sector without receiving any social or economic protection, and they remain invisible in the labour market.

Furthermore, although many refugees have suffered trauma related to war or persecution that has adversely affected their health and well-being, Syrian refugee women in Jordan experience mental health problems at a higher rate than their male counterparts (Rizkalla et al. 2020). Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO 2019) data indicates that, in general, depression is more common among women than men. Concern about the future, the transmission of COVID-19, doubts about the adequacy of healthcare services, and economic insecurities may increase anxiety and depression among refugee women, who are often invisible to healthcare services.

Studies explain that refugee women in Jordan were often exposed to gender-based violence, including physical, sexual, economic and controlling behaviour, mainly by their intimate partners, before the COVID-19 crisis (Al-Natour, Al-Ostaz, and Morris 2019). Al-Shdayfat (2017) found that 31% of refugee women in Jordan experienced physical abuse, and 52% experienced emotional abuse. Gender-based violence is defined by Benjamin and Fancy (1998, 14) as follows: ‘violence targeted to a person because of their gender, or that affects them because of their special roles or responsibilities in society’. The differences in men’s and women’s responsibilities in a patriarchal society are rooted in power inequalities based on male domination and female subordination (Sultana 2010). For example, cooking, caring for children and other household duties mostly fall to women within the Syrian community, while men serve as the breadwinners (Culcasi 2019). The unequal responsibilities in household chores impact many Syrian women and men in both public and private spheres. Therefore, given that the COVID-19 crisis has led to an unprecedented social and economic crisis and given the pre-existing high level of various forms of violence among Syrian communities in Jordan, this research argues that gender-based violence within and outside refugee camps is likely to be exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis.

Research findings

Precarious working and living conditions for refugee women

The employment of Syrian refugees is restricted to positions where they do not compete with Jordanians in the formal sectors; as mentioned above, Syrians are allowed to work only in construction, agriculture and manufacturing (SRU 2021). While this legal restriction on employment applies to all Syrians, women face additional barriers, as these three open sectors are traditionally male-dominated in Jordan (Barbelet, Hagen-Zanker, and Mansour-Ille 2018), reducing the probability of women’s employment in the labour market. Many research participants reported that they were pushed into working informal jobs that usually did not match their qualifications due to legal restrictions. For instance, Nisa (a 39-year-old married mother of four) spoke about the impact of legal restrictions on her livelihood during the COVID-19 crisis:

I was working as a high school teacher in Syria. I now work in a company as a cleaner because, legally, I am not allowed to work as a teacher here. […] I only want to help my family; it doesn’t matter where I work. But the company closed due to the Corona crisis, and I haven’t worked for almost two months. I am not sure if I will be able to continue to work because many people have recently become unemployed.

Almost all research participants who were employed at the time of the interview shared Nisa’s concern, as most of them were employed in the informal sector without any social or economic protection. Although the research sample is too small to allow for generalisations, it reveals that only two research participants were employed formally, while the other five employed subjects were employed informally. This is consistent with the research of UN Women and REACH (2017), which showed that most refugee women in Jordan were working in the informal economy. Similarly, Yasmeen (a 22-year-old single woman), who lives in Mafraq and became unemployed due to the impact of COVID-19, said:

I am a hairstylist. I have worked in a beauty salon for almost a year for a small wage. Unfortunately, we have fewer customers these days [October 2020]. […] The business owner told me that she might close the shop temporarily because there is not enough income to cover the costs. I hope that everything gets back to normal soon. Otherwise, I know that it will not be easy to find a new job for me.

Nisa and Yasmeen’s statements suggest that the employment of refugee women has faced unprecedented uncertainty, as COVID-19 and the accompanying measures weigh heavily on individuals working in informal sectors. Yasmeen’s statement suggests that even employed women tend to occupy lower-paid jobs in precarious conditions. In addition, while most interviewees living in cities had a degree of mobility and access to resources despite the limited conditions caused by COVID-19, interviewees residing in the camps did not. As refugee camps are generally located on the outskirts of cities, and entries and exits are regulated by the Jordanian government’s strict control, there are limited job opportunities, and residents mostly work outside the camps in urban areas. However, the location of the camps poses additional challenges to accessing the Jordanian labour market. To illustrate, Azraq camp is located in the middle of a desert, far from economic activities and urban areas, around 20 km from the nearest town, Zarqa. Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, is also located in a remote desert area in Jordan. Aliya (a 32-year-old married mother of two), living in the Azraq camp since 2016, complained about the location and how COVID-19 measures damaged labour market opportunities for the camp residents:

Many people in the camp do not have stable jobs, and most of them work outside the camp in different cities, including Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, Mafraq, anywhere. However, there are movement restrictions on the camp; no one is allowed to leave or enter [to reduce the spread of COVID-19]. […] How can I work outside the camp during the Corona restrictions?

Following the country’s first COVID-19 cases in mid-March 2020, the Jordanian government implemented a nationwide lockdown. Refugee camp residents were unable to leave; shops, restaurants and schools were closed. Most restrictions in the Syrian refugee camps were implemented until July 2020. Aliya’s statement suggests that the camps’ poor conditions posed additional challenges for those living there.

Furthermore, refugee women who are single parents particularly suffer from increasing economic insecurities during the COVID-19 crisis, struggling to support their children. Janan (a 31-year-old widowed mother of two), who had worked as a social worker in Amman, spoke about the poor living conditions during the COVID-19 crisis:

I used to work in a humanitarian organisation, but the organisation suspended its work due to the Coronavirus crisis. Almost all employees lost their jobs, including me. I have been looking for a new job for nearly five months, but I have not found one yet. You know, it is more difficult to find a job now. We live in very challenging times; many people do not have enough money to buy basic food. […] I had to borrow some money from my friends to pay our rent and buy some food. Now, I am only thinking about how I will repay it without having an income.

Two other research participants mentioned they had been intimidated by lenders as they were unable to pay their rent due to loss of income. Based on these statements, it appears that COVID-19 may have long-term negative economic consequences for women, given that they face additional challenges in finding paid work during the global health crisis. In addition, Janan’s statement on the lack of financial sources is consistent with UN Women’s (2020, 3) research, which shows that 52% of women in Jordan do not have enough money to buy more than two days of food.

Although female-headed households may appear more vulnerable to the effects of economic crisis due to their sole source of income, financial difficulties were also evident for women who lived with a partner. Nadira (a 47-year-old married mother of six), who lives in Mafraq, said:

My husband used to work in a restaurant. He is a chef. He was cooking Syrian food in that restaurant, and the business was good before Corona. But the restaurant shut down, and my husband lost his job. So we are suffering a lot. […] I used to prepare three meals daily for my family, but now it is only two, morning and night. It is okay for my husband and me; we are adults and can survive. But my children are still too young. They need proper meals.

Research findings suggest that COVID-19 and preventive measures deepened the vulnerabilities of Syrian refugee women, both single and non-single, in the labour market, given that many of them were unable to return to their previous employment. The findings also show that gender is an essential factor in refugee labour market participation due to the pre-existing gender gap in formal employment in Jordan.

Refugee women’s well-being and healthcare

Many research participants living in urban areas or camps in Jordan reported that COVID-19 and the accompanying measures increased their anxiety and depression. Raniyah (a 21-year-old single woman), who lives in Balqa, explained how the uncertainty of the future impacts her mental well-being:

I work in a textile manufacturing company, but I fear a lot that I’ll lose my job. You know, there is a big financial crisis because of Corona. A few of my colleagues lost their jobs. So I always wonder when exactly I will be the next person who gets fired. […] My health overall is fine, but this uncertainty sometimes makes me feel stressed.

Women who are the sole breadwinner of their families particularly suffer from depression. Nada (a 34-year-old married mother of two young children) shared her experience:

I had to work because my husband has some health problems. He is unable to work. So I found a job in a company; my income was enough for us to pay the utilities and rent at least. But I lost my job around a month ago. I have to find a new job because my family depend on me. […] Looking for a new job gives me a headache because there have been no job opportunities for a long time.

Studies indicate that economic crisis, unemployment and poor living conditions are associated with poor mental well-being (Giorgi et al. 2015; Silove, Ventevogel, and Rees 2017). The rise in mental health issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative social and economic impact is unsurprising. However, measures taken in response to COVID-19 have added further negative repercussions on the mental health of Syrian refugee women compared to men due to pre-existing gender inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Moreover, several research participants mentioned that overwhelmingly unpaid care work, including cooking, cleaning and caring for children, increased during the COVID-19 crisis and negatively impacted their well-being. Syrian society has commonly placed the burden of unpaid care responsibilities on women based on traditional gender roles (Kikulwe et al. 2021). Nilufar (a 45-year-old married mother of five), who has lived in Amman since 2017, spoke about the increased time Syrian women spent on domestic chores during the COVID-19 restrictions:

I have done more household chores since the Corona crisis started. Our people [Syrians] see a woman as a housewife whose primary responsibility is to look after the children and do the household chores. I know that most women sometimes work more than ten or eleven hours daily on household chores, while men do nothing. […] Yes, even if you look at the street, you will see that Corona impacts women and men differently. Most men are outside on the street, while women are at home doing daily household chores. This is not fair; it makes me annoyed and desperate.

Nilufar’s statement shows that lockdown policies restrict women’s public participation to a greater extent than men. Nilufar’s statement is also in line with research by Seedat and Rondon (2021) that found unpaid domestic and care work to be a significant contributor to mental health problems. Thus, the findings suggest that Syrian women have suffered further mental health issues as a consequence of increasing unpaid care work and gender-based responsibilities.

Camp residents mostly live in overcrowded shelters with limited access to healthcare services and sanitation (Sajdi et al. 2021). All the camp residents (six) reported facing difficulties accessing adequate public healthcare, as there is a shortage of human resources, including intensive care unit nurses, dentists, respiratory therapists and microbiologists within the camps. Refugees in the camps also point out their fear of COVID-19 due to poor living conditions, which adds to their worries. Aisha (a 38-year-old married mother of three), living in Azraq camp since 2016, explained her concern:

Yes, of course, I fear getting Corona because I know there are not enough medical staff in this camp. This makes me worried about our future. […] I am afraid to meet people; I don’t go anywhere unless it is necessary. I also try to keep my children with me, but it is really difficult because they want to go outside to play with the other children. This quarantine makes me depressed, but I don’t have any other way to protect myself and my family.

All research participants, especially in camps, shared Aisha’s concern about the spread of COVID-19 due to insufficient healthcare services and poor living conditions. Finally, the research participants point out that the treatment services for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have also been significantly disrupted during the COVID-19 crisis in Jordan. Adila (a 51-year-old widowed mother of six) explained:

I have heart disease. As far as I am aware, there is no big risk for me for now, but I need to get regular treatment. Since the Corona started, whenever I go to a hospital, they [medical staff] say the priority is to patients who have Corona. I do not want to go to the hospital anymore because they do not care about me.

The prevention and control of NCDs are essential, as people with NCDs are at higher risk of COVID-19-related illness and death (Gutierrez and Bertozzi 2020). However, several research participants declared they had not received the medical treatment they needed since the COVID-19 crisis in Jordan began. Therefore, women refugees in and outside the camps have been trapped in a cycle of precarity due to COVID-19 and pre-existing challenges.

The ‘iceberg’ of domestic violence

Lockdowns may reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they also have serious socially disruptive consequences for refugee women, including various types of gender-based violence, including physical, emotional, sexual and psychological (UN Women 2021, 11). Research participants stated that movement restrictions and extended time at home due to nationwide lockdowns increased the risks of domestic violence against women.³ Malika (a 38-year-old married mother of four) reported:

My husband was already rude to me, but everything worsened during the curfew …. He doesn’t work as all the businesses were closed [from mid-March to May 2020]. He just sits at home and watches TV shows all day. He only expects me to serve him. When I don’t do the things he wants, he gets mad. I shared this problem with my mother. She told me to remain silent, don’t complain because all men are the same.

Malika’s statement suggests that domestic violence is the outcome of subordination, a culturally reproduced pattern. In addition, several research participants mentioned that closures of schools and childcare facilities during the COVID-19 crisis added to tension at home. Rabia (a 42-year-old married mother of two) spoke about the uneven responsibilities regarding household chores and how this issue is associated with domestic violence:

I do all the household work, including cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping, by myself. But, I have more work to do now. My children get distance learning courses as the schools are closed due to the lockdown. I have to take care of their needs to ensure they continue their education. I also go to supermarkets for grocery shopping, and I am the only person who cooks at home. My husband and most men in our society believe it is women’s responsibility to do all household and childcare work. […] I have never experienced physical violence, but he insults me when he doesn’t like the food. Honestly, this breaks my heart.

Rabia’s statement shows that social and cultural norms dictate that Syrian women take care of children and perform other unpaid work in the household. Rabia’s statement also suggests that domestic violence reflects gender power relations, as traditional gender role attitudes dictate appropriate behaviour for women and men. The research findings suggest that the unequal division of household chores is likely to increase the level of domestic violence against Syrian women. Similarly, Halima (a 28-year-old married mother of two) explained her experience of domestic violence:

Before the curfew started [the nationwide curfew in mid-March 2020], my husband told me to buy some groceries for breakfast and dinner that we may need because we knew that we would not be allowed to leave the house after that time. I forgot to add some necessary items to the list. Then, he asked me where the things I bought were. I told him that I had forgotten some items. We started to argue because of this reason, but there was already tension previously. Then he hit me; I had to leave the house. I went to my friend’s house. I wanted to return to my family, who is in Syria. But I couldn’t, as the borders were closed due to Corona restrictions. I stayed at my friend’s house until he came to apologise. I forgave him for the sake of our children.

Halima’s statement shows that home is not a place of safety for some Syrian refugee women. Another major factor contributing to the increase in domestic violence against Syrian women is economic insecurities and job losses due to COVID-19 and preventive measures. Several participants report that the ongoing economic crisis increases tension at home, and women become victims. For example, Zahra (a 42-year-old married mother of four) reported:

My husband was working in construction before this Corona crisis started. He hasn’t worked for almost six months. There are no jobs. […] He has been more aggressive since he lost his job. He often shouts at me in front of our children. […] There is no way to complain about this. If he hears me complaining about his treatment, everything will worsen.

Zahra’s statement suggests that increasing levels of anger, stress and tension due to poor economic conditions and curfews lead to an increased level of violent arguments between Syrian couples in Jordan. Four of the research participants reported verbal or physical violence from their intimate partners, while half of the participants (12) believe that domestic violence against women increased significantly during the lockdowns in Jordan. These results suggest that many cases of gender-based violence are known to the participants due to the social circles surrounding the victims, even though most domestic violence cases remain unreported.

Similarly, all key informants point out that domestic violence is under-reported in Jordan due to fear of retaliation, economic dependency and shame. Studies indicate that domestic violence is largely underreported, both in Jordan and across the world (Parker 2015; Gracia 2004). Experience of violence might be stigmatised in society, or survivors of violence may be ashamed to disclose it. MacTavish’s (2020) research suggests that refugee women do not report sexual violence due to shame and a lack of confidence in helpers. Neli, who has worked in an international humanitarian organisation in Jordan as a project coordinator since 2015, explained:

Yes, not all women report it [domestic violence] to the police or related authorities because most [married] women are economically dependent on their husband’s income. I know some women also fear divorce and homelessness. […] How can they report it if they don’t have any economic freedom?

Neli’s statement indicates that some women are forced to remain silent about the humiliation and abuse they receive in exchange for their survival. In addition, a lack of women’s financial security and independence is linked to an increase in the risk of mistreatment and violence. All key informants highlighted the social and cultural pressure on Syrian women to prevent them from reporting gender-based violence. Asia, who has worked in local NGOs in Jordan as a social worker for 7 years, said:

Most women fear reporting such cases, in case other people hear, because Jordan is a tiny country. But I think this issue does not only affect Jordan; it is common across the world. Due to cultural and social pressures, women who have experienced domestic violence usually do not disclose it immediately. Even though some humanitarian organisations’ reports show that many women reported gender-based violence during COVID-19, I am sure most cases remain unknown due to a lack of reporting.

Asia’s statement suggests that leaving the cycle of violence is difficult due to the societal framework that governs women’s lives, and some women may be fearful of retaliation if others find out they reported their experiences. Neli’s and Asia’s statements indicate that gender-based violence is widespread among refugee communities in Jordan but vastly underreported. The known part of the ‘iceberg’ of domestic violence represents only a tiny part of all cases (Gracia 2004).⁴ This also highlights the weakness of protection systems for Syrian women in Jordan. Laura, who works as a project assistant in Jordan, explained:

I don’t think, unfortunately, the Jordanian government and humanitarian organisations provide adequate social and financial support for women experiencing domestic violence. I have worked as a project assistant in humanitarian organisations for almost ten years in Jordan; I know how these organisations deal with gender-based violence cases. Most organisations fail to protect women. In addition, some women do not have confidence in the criminal justice system in Jordan regarding domestic violence cases.

COVID-19 and the associated preventive measures have had a significant impact on all refugees. However, refugee women face a double crisis: not only the devastating effects of COVID-19 but also an upsurge in gender-based violence due to pre-existing gender inequalities in Jordan.

Conclusion

This research discusses gender inequalities and post-migration vulnerabilities that place women and men differently at risk when a global health crisis impacts their socio-economic livelihoods. The research findings show that women are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and its preventive measures due to existing inequalities and post-migration vulnerabilities in employment, mental well-being, and various forms of gender-based violence. The research findings also suggest the importance of not aggregating refugee women into one general category, as this might fail to take into account the significant variation that exists within the Syrian refugee community in Jordan.

Three overarching points deserve to be highlighted in conclusion. Firstly, there is a significant gender gap in formal employment among the Syrian community due to labour market restrictions. These legal restrictions force women to find a job in the informal sector, where they mostly do not have economic and social protection. The research findings show that the COVID-19 crisis poses a particular financial threat to Syrian refugee women, as they mostly work in the informal sector without socio-economic security. The Jordanian government should remove all the legal restrictions obstructing Syrian refugee women’s involvement in formal employment. Removing these legal barriers is likely to reduce the gender gap in formal employment among refugee communities and may improve women’s livelihoods.

Secondly, the research findings point out that Syrian refugee women in camps are more likely to fear the increased risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the dense population and poor infrastructure of the camps. The Jordanian government should assess the current situation to determine refugees’ urgent needs for essential medical equipment and mental health services, giving priority to women’s well-being. They should also provide financial support for those who face challenges in accessing basic services such as food, shelter and healthcare. Finally, the findings indicate that treatment services for refugees with NCDs have been disrupted due to preventive measures. The Jordanian government and related humanitarian organisations should provide teleconsultation or tele-mental health services, using phone or video calls to support refugee women’s resilience during the global health crisis.

Thirdly, the findings show that lockdowns imposed as a result of COVID-19 have led to an increase in domestic violence among Syrian refugee women in Jordan, and most of these cases remain unreported. Gender-based violence cannot be ignored, even if it is underreported. The Jordanian government and human rights organisations should conduct campaigns to encourage a sensitive approach to gender, inculcate respect for women and girls, and strengthen awareness of women’s rights. The Jordanian government should also ensure that refugee women have access to legal aid if they experience any form of violence. The cost of ignoring gender when analysing the impact of the global health crisis on displaced populations is to render refugee women’s lives invisible. Therefore, the most effective and compassionate way to address COVID-19, and any future pandemics that may occur, is to ensure that everyone – women and men – are fully protected economically, physically and psychologically.

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to my supervisors, Nick Gill and Julian Jamison, for their persistent support and encouragement. I also thank the editors and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cevdet Acu

Cevdet Acu is a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Exeter. He is interested in refugee economies, labour market integration of refugees, the gender gap in employment, and economic development. He investigates the impact of Syrian refugees on the labour market in the developing country context.

Notes

1 In this research, the term ‘refugee’ is used generically to refer to Syrians who have crossed the border from Syria seeking safety in Jordan since 2011.

2 University of Exeter Business School Research Ethics Committee (Application ID: eUEBS003047 v3.2).

3 The Jordanian government implemented a nationwide lockdown from mid-March to the first week of May, 2020.

4 The phenomenon of the ‘iceberg’ of domestic violence asserts that we may estimate how many women are victims of domestic violence, but the exact number is unknown due to the prevalence of unreported cases, as most women do not disclose their experiences on this issue due to personal and societal reasons.