Washerwomen: forgotten women
Morocco, Culture, 8/14/1998

Washerwomen, these women who were for a long time appreciated are today finding it difficult to be recruited like in a not-so-distant past, facing "unfair competition" from washing machines.

Young, old, widows, married or single women, they were all forced to do this job, renting out their services. Increasingly hard living conditions force them to leave their homes, children, a sick or unemployed husband to earn a living for their family.

Some of them, who used to be maids since childhood, have decided to quit this occupation, harassed by bad treatment from their employers. Although they gain a small retribution when they find a job as a washerwoman at a wage of 40 to 50 dh a day ($4-$5), most of them refuse a "stable" position where they would make even less money.

Waking up before everybody else in the house to cook the breakfast, do the housework, go to the market, make the lunch and take care of others' children without any holidays is exhausting and low paid. For 150 to 200 dh a week, they prefer to work as washerwomen who are paid by the week or the day and are more independent.

Furthermore, they chose this job because they refuse to be reprimanded by the house mistresses who accuse them of being lazy or even thieves and because this way they have more time for their own family.

This category of workers is busier on the eve of religious days and they charge more money for their services which also obey to the market demand and offer law.

Fatiha, who is only 38 years old but looks at least ten years older, has been standing for the whole day in a street in the center of Casablanca, waiting for a customer. Sometimes, she would stay there for the whole day. On average, three times a week, she would find someone to rent her services but no longer to wash clothes but to do the housework or wash linen and blankets that are impossible to put in a washing machine.

Only those considered as "professional" have the ability to negotiate and impose their price. Aicha, the dark-skinned, is highly rated and has built a reputation as a hard worker. Her acquaintances among middle class women pass her on. Her prices are unnegotiable and include also her transport fees.

When her "order book" is empty, Aicha goes to one of the squares in downtown Casablanca where she would be rapidly recruited.

Fatma, aged over 50, spends almost the whole morning watching passers-by and looking for an interested face, but as hours go by she stretches her hand asking for charity.

In an age when most people are on retirement, she can't work in houses. But as she does not know any other job, she comes to the square every morning where she likes to hear stories of washerwomen and tell her own.

When she was young, she never thought of harder times, and anyway could not afford to plan for her old age as maids and washerwomen are not covered by any kind of social coverage or law to protect them against exploitation and precarious conditions.

Previous Stories:
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  UNESCO praise Moroccan steps to improve life of villagers   (7/14/1998)
  Birth rate twice higher in rural areas in Morocco   (6/10/1998)

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