LARA JOHARİ

Mahabad – Women, who face discrimination in all spheres of life in Iran, have to work in service sectors such as hotels, restaurants and shops in order to earn a living.

Female seasonal workers face long working hours, low wages, harassment and gender discrimination. They cannot access health services because they work without health insurance.

‘We are paid less’

Seher Qadri is one of the female seasonal workers in Iran. She began to work as a seasonal worker to take care of her three children and pay the rent of her house after she got divorced. Early in the morning, she departed from Sardasht to Bukan with her 16-year-old daughter Sara Mohammadi to pick peas. They can return home in the evening.

She told us that she had to work as a seasonal worker for the future of her children. “We pick peas all day long and we are paid 500, 000 tomans per day. I am 35 years old and earn a living for my family by working as a seasonal worker. Working as a seasonal worker is tiring and difficult but it is better than being unemployed. We are paid less and the salary I receive is insufficient to meet the needs of my family.”