Abstract

The current study aims at exploring the experiences of working women in the domain of household responsibilities, along with their professional duties during COVID-19. The study was conducted in Turbat Kech, the southern part of Baluchistan, using a qualitative research method. Data for the study was collected through an interview guide from 30 working women, who were selected using a purposive sampling strategy. The study findings show that family conflicts and domestic issues were on the rise during the pandemic. Moreover, the burden of household and professional responsibilities was higher among females from middle-income households rather than lower-income households. The women were not only faced with performing their work responsibilities from home; they also had to carry out their domestic responsibilities. Our data also shows that incidents of domestic violence with women were on the rise during the pandemic.

Key Words

Covid-19 Pandemic, Household Women, Domestic Violence, Lockdown, Baluchistan

Introduction

The outbreak of deadly COVID-19 from China and its spread all over the world is considered as the major global health crisis and a major challenge that humanity has experienced after World War II. The countries all over the world restricted their citizens from travelling and devise policies to isolate them at their homes and discourage the hefty kinds of gatherings and ceremonies. However, the COVID-19 is substantially more than a health crisis, by focusing on all of the nations to shrinking their social, economic, and political emergencies that had left profound effects on humanity (Mazza et al., 2020). The COVID -19 pandemic has affected various segments of the society, particularly, the family sphere. The COVID-19 pandemic left an everlasting impact on the behavior of every individual; mainly, the women have affected the most indifferent global health pandemics due to the disadvantaged socio-cultural standings (Martinez and Paterna, 2009). Despite all the emancipation and victorious notions of attainments for women in the 20th century are working, women are still facing discriminating behavior in the sphere of household responsibilities and duties. In the 20th-century women are still far behind in attaining equal rights and justice (Bunk, 2017). The socio-cultural and discursive point of views sees gender ideology as an operationalized set of beliefs and values that maintained the right and duties for men and women based on sex (Faridullah, 2006: 2020). The traditional notion of gender roles attaches outdoor activities with men, whereas indoor activities are arbitrarily associated with women. Furthermore, this gender role model prescribes the delineation of expressiveness with women and instrumental with men. These gendered interaction patterns within the society have been embedded in the socio-cultural context of most of the societies (Malaterre and Foucreault, 2017). Evidentially, gender inequalities are not only rooted in developing societies, but it also exists in developed societies. For instance, World Health Organization WHO (2012), reported that in western societies, the unequal involvement in the process of household responsibilities is about 10% for men and to 69% for women. Furthermore, it is also illustrated that violence against women is directly associated with household responsibilities. With the same line of series in Islamic world countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria and Morocco, 20% to 50% of women has encountered instances of domestic violence while performing their household responsibilities (WHO, 2014).

Pakistan is confronted with great gender inequalities despite various efforts and voices for gender equality. There is an extensive gap between men and women in terms of education, employment, access to health and other services, Faridullah (2020). The gender inequality is deep-rooted within the Pakistani society where a working woman is among the most affected one, Abbasi (2020). A working woman is not only responsible for outdoor responsibilities, but also, she has to perform the household responsibilities, which results in mental stress, anxiety and other psychological issues, Bajwa (2020). Therefore, it is pertinent to understand the situation of these working women during the unprecedented situation of COVID-19 pandemic. The domestic violence has significantly increased during COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmed (2020). However, there is no academic study available in Pakistan’s context. The current study is, therefore, an effort to highlight the experiences of working women with regard to performing household responsibilities and their experiences of domestic violence during the pandemic. The study is based on a contextual analysis of the role of women in Turbat Kech, Balochistan that is a true reflection of traditional society in which patriarchal mindset inches to subordinate the women in every walk of life. Therefore, the study highlighted the various kinds of socio-cultural gender roles in the domain of household responsibilities with the particular reference of COVID-19 lockdown. This study determines to emphasize answers to the research questions; How Covid-19 lockdown duration enhanced the phenomenon of household responsibilities along with professional duties among women in TurbatKech Baluchistan? What are the hurdles and impediments faced by Baloch workingwomen in TurbatKech? What are the opportunities and challenges faced by working women in household politics? 




Objectives of the Study

To find out the dynamics of household responsibilities among working women during COVID-19 lockdown. 

To investigate the practice of gender ideologies among Baloch working women.

To identify the socio-psychological issues faced by working women during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Literature Review

Although the 20th century has observed improvement in various fields particularly, in the domain of women's emancipation and wellbeing, however, despite all victorious notions and attainments in the 20th century many women are still far behind in various walks of life particular, in the premises of household responsibilities (Chen et al., 2005). The significance and imperative of women’s involvement in every field of life is an essential indicator of the progress of a society.  Therefore, socio-economic development cannot be fully grasped without female involvement and engagement in the area of decision-making. (Aijaz, 2008; Agbalajobi, 2010; Chowdhury, 2009; Chattopadhyah and Duflo, 2004). Moreover, Shvedova (2002) illustrated that the socio-economic importance of women in society has straightforwardly linked with their social equality and justice. The lack of adequate responsible behavior in traditional societies was considered one of the most important hurdles in the way of sharing household chores among the couple. Therefore, in the developing world, mostly women are not financially sound to influence their families in the realm of equal household responsibilities (Phillips, 1995).  Women are economically dependent, and most of the household income belongs to their husbands, in-laws, and fathers which is a serious hurdle to their empowerment everywhere in the world overall and in developing societies in particular (Sen, 2005; Grown et al., 2003). Based on gender indicators, Pakistanis placed at 122 numbers among 157countries, which means Pakistan is lagging behind its neighboring countries like Bangladesh and India on gender development indicators. Similarly, Sultana and McCarthy (2004) examined that Pakistan depicts a male-centric traditional society that had restricted the women largely to household responsibilities. The inquiry also inferred that social structure closed-mindedness and egoistic nature traits do not allow men in household participation. According to statistics shared by White Ribbon NGO (Non- governmental organization), 4,734 women encountered sexual violence between 2004 and 2016 and 15,000 cases of honor killings were reported in Pakistan.  There were more than 1,800 cases of domestic violence and over 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period. According to print media reports, more than 51,241, cases of violence against women occurred between January 2011 and June 2017 Ahmed (2020 pp 74). The current study consequently focuses on reasons that generate hampers towards women’s equality in society. However, it also explores the struggle that women had to overcome to establish their space in a male-dominated society in the situation of a global pandemic.




Theoretical Framework

Different theoretical approaches have elaborated the phenomenon of women emancipation and discriminatory treatment with them by society.  In this regard, Gorodyska (2015), Berger and Thomas (1966) argued that social constructionism is based on the process of interaction through which social realities are constructed. Social constructionism accentuated the basic role of language and communication that contributed to the linguistic turn and later on to the particle relevance. Social constructionism is a set of ideas and beliefs that stated that languages are not merely the mirror of reality, but in contrast, it constitutes to create realities. Furthermore, social constructionism has three stages: the first one is externalization which means values, norms and products created through the interaction process. The second one is objectivities, that means when values and products are created that appear to be in reality. The third one is internalization which occurs when the individuals internalize the constructed values and product to be in the socialization process primarily. Furthermore, with the same line in as quoted by Urla and Swedlund (1995), Focualt (1971) describes that the role of power plays an essential role in the social construction process. It is of the view that knowledge is provided by powerful and obtain to produce dominant discourses from which the notion of sub-ordination prevails in society. Additionally, the discourses are powerful techniques to which the version of realities is created and disseminate into practice. 

From the above theoretical discussion, it presents subsequent and magnificent dimensions of social constructionism. However, the theorists present the importance of the construction of social reality in the domain of gender role. The role of women in society became a subjective reality, whereas, the men show their authoritative position to shape and mold their behavior accordingly. However, the disseminated version of discourses regarding gender role is based on social and cultural perspectives which presumably, the construction of social realities in term of women’s role and status in society.  The approach argues that how the individual’s attitude and behavior are shaped by social forces that aimed to re-construct the old pattern of hegemony. Hence, such lenses are associated with power relation phenomena to dominate women in the light of gender discourses.

Methods

This study was carried out using a qualitative research method. Our purpose was to highlight and explore the experiences of working within the domain of household during Covid-19 lockdown, and it was better possible through a qualitative approach instead of any quantitative statistical procedures.  Researchers identified the experiences of working women in the premise of household responsibilities during COVID-19 lockdown in the urban area of district Turbat Kech city, which is located in the southern part of Baluchistan, Pakistan. The rationale for using the qualitative exploratory design is that it is commonly used to identify experiences in detail (Dimitrova et al., 2002).

 

Table 1. Respondents Demographics

Area of Residence	Gender	Occupation	Age	Relationship Status	Family Members	Family Type
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	32	Married	10	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Nurse	28	Married	6	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Doctor	34	Married	14	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Self employed	35	Married	12	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	29	Married	4	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	26	Married	9	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Nurse	29	Married	5	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Doctor	30	Married	16	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Self employed	38	Married	18	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	38	Married	4	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	42	Married	7	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Self employed	37	Married	18	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	44	Married	5	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	36	Married	6	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Nurse	29	Married	17	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Doctor	31	Married	10	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Self employed	29	Married	5	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	45	Married	6	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	41	Married	3	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Self employed	43	Married	9	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	39	Married	9	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	40	Married	6	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Nurse	46	Married	13	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Doctor	48	Married	5	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	28	Married	16	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	31	Married	12	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	29	Married	4	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	29	Married	6	Nuclear
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	26	Married	14	Joint
Turbat Kech	Female	Teacher	40	Married	12	Joint

 

Table 1 above shows our respondents demographics whom we interviewed for our study. It includes information related to their age, gender, area of residence, occupation, family type, number of family members, and relationship status.

Furthermore, the researchers collected data from a sample of 30 respondents who were selected through purposive sampling technique. Using a purposive sampling strategy, only those females were selected for the study as respondents, who were married and living with their families. The researchers achieved a saturation point in the data at 30^th interview that is why we stopped collecting data from more respondents. This study targeted those women who have been abandoned to do extra unpaid labor work during COVID-19 lockdown. A semi-structured interview guide was used as a tool for data collection. The interview guide included elements related to women household experiences, instances of domestic violence, mental and emotional stability during the lockdown and coping strategies. Semi-structured interview guide provides independence to the researcher to ask probing questions during the interview process, and we employed the same method in our interviews.  The in-depth interviews were conducted to explore the detailed experiences of household responsibilities of urban women in TurbatKech. Respondents were accessed at their families where we had hired female data collectors for data collection keeping in view the socio-cultural context of the area. Every interview was recorded in the shape of audio recording and field notes in the local language and was then transcribed verbatim. After transcribing all the data, it was then analyzed using thematic analysis technique. At the first stage of the analysis, we familiarized ourselves with the data and edited and sorted the data for removing any errors and omissions. At the second stage, we codded all the data using open, axial and selective coding procedures. After coding all of the data, we generated themes based on the three-staged coding procedure. At the final stage of the data analysis, we elaborated our data under relevant themes in comparison to the existing literature and theory. The researchers then draw a conclusion from the data based on its similarity and differences with existing literature and theory.

The results of the study highlighted the underlying problems of women’ experiences and the barriers they face during the lockdown in the sphere of the policy framework. The researchers are going to elaborate on

their findings in detail in the next chapter. 

Results

Women’s Perception Regarding House Chores Responsibilities 

This theme encapsulates the perception of women in the domain of household responsibilities among women. It comprised two sub-themes of which the correspondence to obligation and cultural influences are taken as key factors that underlie to socialize the female regarding household responsibilities. In this regard, the maternal socialization plays an essential role, whereas the mother induces their females accordingly. Such as participant A reported that,

A mother holds a significant position in the process of socializing their female children regarding home chores and responsibilities.

Furthermore, the same perspective was followed by another female respondent L aged 28 residents of TurbatKech stated that,

The role of the father is all-embracing and influential in the family. Baloch society is more traditional and patriarchal.

In addition to making, it clear that the coronavirus pandemic has placed a certain type of burden on working women. The working women experienced extra responsibilities as compared to post-pandemic, respondent L stated that:

We are living in a joint family system; the chores such as washing, cooking, and caring was increased in lockdown as compared to pre-pandemic.

Another sub-theme under the main theme was an obligation and cultural influence in which the respondents stated that women's involvement in extra household responsibilities largely lay under the decisive reasons for cultural influence and obligations. According to the consistent view of Alon et al. (2020) illustrated that Studies of household responsibilities have characteristically absorbed in the South Asian region such as in Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistani communities based in the United Kingdom. All respondents recognized that all household responsibilities lie on the shoulders of women, and it is deeply rooted in the Baloch society.  Subsequently, the respondents demonstrated that:

Being a woman has to follow the family instructions such as respondent. An expressed that our culture socializes us accordingly, and we have to follow.

 Nevertheless, respondents accredited that the imperative notion of education is overwhelmingly playing an essential role in advocating gender equality in Baloch society. The female respondent aged 27 reported that:

I am a school teacher and being educated working women I have enough knowledge regarding my rights and duties, but still, I am bound to face the extra burden of workload in the post and in during the COVID-19, because it is rooted in our tradition.

Likewise, a female respondents Z who was based on Turbat city aged was 26 revealed that:

The era of the 21st century is considered the era of change and growth, but the women’ role is still the same in terms of cooking and feeding.

It is evident from empirical findings that the role of maternal socialization is significant to mold female’s behaviour according to the societal patterns. The mothers socialize their female children’s according to their cultural traditions. Even though the modern working women of TurbatKech considered household responsibilities as a task or duty to accomplish. From the reviewed literature, education brought structural changes within the social structure (Karadag and Kocak, 2017). But in the case of educated working women in Turbat, the dilemma has changed due to strong social structure.




Household Responsibilities and Marital Conflicts: Lockdown Dilemma

This main theme compresses the martial conflicts versus household responsibilities of women during the COVID-19 lockdown. It consists of two sub-themes of which the correspondence of phycological distress and violence are linked with household responsibilities. Most of the people, due to lockdown restriction, were living and spending time with their families and that exposed couples to spend most of the time together. We found in our data that continuous spending time together with no outside the home activities resulted in an increasing ratio of domestic abuse for women.  The study participant shared their COVID-19 lockdown experiences. In this regard, one respondent, who was a mother of two, and was living with her husband, shared her experience as follows: 

In a lockdown situation, my husband abused me, such as slapping, taunting, and beating. It was the usual practice in my family. It was after a long time that we were spending time together. It was indeed, not a good experience.

The above extract shows how women would have experienced a lockdown duration. Furthermore, the lockdown situation also increased the notion of domestic violence among married couples. A respondent aged 42, resident of district Kech, Balochistan shared her experiences in this regard:

(Akdema coronavirus heaakdema Mardlat o kokarkotsh,marduamnaza chon bekawa Allah). On one side the hard-hitting COVID-19 and on the other side my husbands’shouting and taunting attitude. I don’t know what to do.

Additionally, concerning sub-themes which we documented underneath of the main theme, the majority of respondents demonstrated that during covid-19, they experienced phycological and mental pressure due to marital conflicts. A respondent from Kech district stated that:

I experienced conflicts on a daily basis during COVID-19 with my husband over on pity things.

 They are not only negatively treated; they were also exposed to instances of domestic violence. These findings show the burden of negative treatment and distress caused by the pandemic with women whose social position is already in a patriarchal society. The men were found to be exhausting their anger and stress caused by the lockdown over their women, who are in no position to question these rigid patriarchal practices.




Indoor Responsibilities of Working Women 

The main theme did comprise of sub-theme of pressure and related to respondents’ attitudes and perceptions regarding women’ indoor responsibilities. The professional women in TurbatKech play an essential role in health care responsibilities during Covid-19. In this regard, one of the female respondent L residents of Turbat city who aged 27 illustrated that:

Being a doctor, I daily spent 8 to 12 hours at the hospital after that; I also take care of the house chores.

With the same line of series, another female respondent explained it experiences during Covid-19 lockdown whereas, the female nurse respondent P, who’s aged was 26, reported it experiences in local language such as:

HeagafBaloch ska harabsamjag beath kea ak thana janenispatailthahekamardegmakarbeka blee mni duty heakarwakanageeheakaracheparigbeagdapdalugeekarhum mnakanagee; which means that In Baloch society, being a woman, it becomes very hard to work with male calaugesat hospital and being a nurse at TMC (Turbat Medical Center) is a different dilemma, particularly in COVID-19 where I have to work extra hours and afterwards when I go back to home then I have to make dinner for my family as well.

Furthermore, (OECD 2020) report demonstrated that women play a frontline role in Covid -19 pandemic the 85% of the women worldwide were engaged in health care facilities among them where doctors, midwives, and nurses were played a key role in the pandemic. The majority of working women stated that family members acknowledged our outdoor responsibilities during Covid -19. On the contrary, the family also expects indoor services from working women as well. In this regard, the female residence of Turbat city aged 28 respondents V illustrated that:

Being a working woman, I spent 8 to 10 hours at the hospital during covid-19; after that, when I go home, my family expects me to carry out the chores responsibilities as well.

 Moreover, another professional female respondent O, aged 27 residence in TurbatKech Baluchistan expressed her views that:

Sometimes I feel that the COVID-19 accelerated my indoor and outdoor responsibilities.

My family members particularly my husband expect extra-indoor responsibilities from me.

In district TurbatKech, the working women have experienced extra-burden indoor and outdoor responsibilities during COVID-19 lockdown. A significant majority of the professional women had played a crucial role during COVID-19 lockdown, particularly in the premises of indoor and outdoor responsibilities, including the health care services at hospitals and household tasks.




Coping and Adjustment 

The main theme of coping and adjustment among working women during the Covid -19 pandemic and this theme did not contain any sub-theme and related that how the respondents adjust their indoor and outdoor responsibilities and how the respondents cope with their challenges. The pattern of coping with the situation respondents acknowledged the interaction with parents and sisters are the noted coping mechanism. In this perspective respondent, P reported that:

When I feel the extra load of household responsibilities, then I prefer to talk with my mother and best friends to overcome mental distress.

Within the line, the patterns acknowledge the roles and duties of each other reduce the chances of mental illness. In this context, the respondent N, whose age was 30, doctor (gynaecologist) by profession, explained her coping techniques as:

Bare baremnimardmna galeae gda ancho laggi keakareboujporakambeath; Sometimes, my husband acknowledges my passion towards household responsibilities then I become mentally sound rather feel the burden.

Besides, some of the respondents explained the diverse mode of methods and techniques from which they overcome the pressure of unpaid household responsibilities.  In this line, the female urbanized in Turbatkech Baluchistan respondent F aged 29 narrated her experiences like this:

Sometimes, I became bored to do the same responsibilities on a daily basis then I prefer to visit shrines, this technique has become very helpful for me to overcome the heaviness.

The pattern of consulting with a psychologist or any other counsellor became helpful to reduce the problems and provokes the notion of adjustment, but the unavailability of psychiatrists and counsellors in the region is another health dilemma for women.  In this notion of understanding, one of the female respondents, reside in turbatkech aged 30 Q explained that: 

Heachonehabree kea luge karnaba nu mardum doctor bro ajeebheawasyaurTurbathea wade doctor hm nesth kea hea wade janjalsarasarpadibedia; means lack of psychiatrist and counsellor in Turbat city may be the reason for not preferring to visit a psychiatrist or any other professional counsellor to share the household related issues.

In district TurbatKech, the working women were exposed to mental distress situation due to extra-burden indoor and outdoor responsibilities during COVID-19 lockdown. However, the majority of professional women frequently prefer to visit shrines, neighborhood and to talk with the family to overcome its mental distress situation. Furthermore, the people of Turbat Kech perceived negatively that an individual visit any psychiatrist or counsellor regarding their mental health issues.

Discussion

The COVID -19 pandemic has affected various segments of society, particularly the urban working women. Historically, any form of infectious disease carried various kind of effects on every segment of the society, particularly women, suffered a lot from it. History bear witness, that the outbreak of the Ebola various in 2014-2015 in West Africa affected women in the society more as compared to men, in term of their role and responsibilities, such as caregiving and other expressive roles (Menendez et al., 2015; Nkangu, Olatunde and Yaya, 2017). The existing study was aimed to explore the experiences of urban working women outdoor and indoor responsibilities during COVID-19 in TurbatKech, which is located in the southern part of Baluchistan, Pakistan. As in the light of the literature (Karadag and Kocak, 2017) illustrated that the 21st century bears an era of growth and development in economic, political, and social spheres, but in some societies, women still have no access to basic human rights and they are discriminated in almost all aspects of their lives. In this current study, we employed an exploratory research design and interviewed 30 urban women to explore their experiences of household responsibilities during the lockdown. Our findings show that Baloch urban women of Turbat are not fully confined to just in household affairs, but they play an active role in outdoor affairs and contribute significantly to society. On the contrary, working women also manage the domestic chores side by side, even in the hard-hitting environment of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, the thematic analysis was used to identify the four major main themes, along with five sub-themes. The study findings show that in TurbatKech, urban working women are performing instrumental as well as expressive roles, where women need to accomplish household responsibilities. A significant majority of respondents think that socio-cultural obligations and constraints are the major reasons that are putting the extra burden of house chores responsibilities that ranges from child care to groceries for urban working women in TurbatKech. The extra burden of household responsibilities among urban working women has caused psychological health issues among urban working women as in-laws politics within the family results in marital conflicts. The challenges and impediments faced by urban working women also expand the notions of scientific understandings in the particular area of TurbatKech, Baluchistan. With the help of the theoretical framework, the theory of social constructivism by Berger and Thomas (1966) argued that social constructionism is based on the process of interaction through which social realities are constructed. The theoretical literature relevant to this topic cited revolves around various debates to explain the various impacts and reasons behind socio-cultural settings. Our study is an important contribution in this regard through exploring the experiences of household women in a pandemic situation from a typical patriarchal structure. 

Conclusion

Our study highlighted the patterns of household responsibilities and its implications on urban working women in a pandemic situation within the Baloch society, particularly in the region of TurbatKech, Baluchistan. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated women’ household responsibilities and strengthen the socio-cultural norms particularly glance over gender-based discourse in the society. The notion of household responsibilities is a comprehensive phenomenon that embraces all the features of activities ranging from cooking, washing, caring, and other related accessories. The indoor and outdoor responsibilities of working women underlined among the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of social life. In the extrinsic aspect which includes clothing, cooking, washing, and even gardening. On the contrary, the pattern of intrinsic aspects includes love, care, and affection are commonly associated with women responsibilities under socio-cultural landscapes. Furthermore, in this research majority of the respondents have gendered value preferences based on sex. Our study shows that women are discriminately treated and domestically abused during the lockdown situation. Pakistan, particularly the Baloch society, seems more traditional, whereas, the socio-cultural values are highly focused in terms of gender roles and duties. Thus women who live in joint families or extended families are found to be more prone to domestic violence, and other patriarchal notions and outbreak of Covid-19 have made the situation even worse for them. However, a further study could highlight the experiences of women from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and compare it with other contexts for a compressive overview. Another study with a focus on male perspectives of household activities and their experiences with their partner during Covid-19 pandemic will be a significant contribution to literature. 

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