Shabwa's Ataq Mall gives women a safe haven

At the Ataq Mall in Shabwa's provincial capital, the first women-only shopping mall in the country and province, female entrepreneurs and shoppers have been engaged in brisk business activity.

Despite the difficult circumstances brought on by the war, they said, the mall has become a place where women can stroll, shop and find some tranquility.

"I can shop at ease for everything I need at the Ataq Mall because it is for women only," said local housewife Ruwaiba Mohammed.

As the mall serves women only and is staffed entirely by women, it enables them to shop and engage in business activity free of the restrictions imposed by social customs in traditional and tribal communities.

The basic idea behind the establishment of the mall was to give women more freedom to shop and engage in commercial activity, said Ataq Mall general manager Arwa al-Awlaki.

The decision to make it a women-only mall convinced Shabwa's conservative community to allow women to leave their homes, she told Al-Mashareq.

In addition to the shops, children's play areas and restaurants inside the mall have made it a destination and an outlet for women, she added.

"A women-only mall also boosts female entrepreneurship and gives women space to establish themselves in a conservative community in Shabwa, which rejects the idea of women working," al-Awlaki said.

She stressed the importance of establishing shopping malls that are exclusively for women, saying this helps the community open up and give women freedom.

Economic activity amid war

Businesswoman Arwa Saleh said she returned from Saudi Arabia to establish herself as an entrepreneur, and was able to achieve that thanks to the Ataq Mall, where she sells kitchenware and children’s apparel in two separate shops.

"It is no longer just a shopping mall, but also an outlet for women -- entrepreneurs and shoppers alike," she told Al-Mashareq, as it has given them the freedom to shop away from the regular markets.

Saleh said she was eager to return from Saudi Arabia and engage in business and is optimistic about the prospects of commercial recovery in Yemen "despite the war and circumstances we are currently experiencing".

She hopes to expand her business, she said, expressing her hope that Ataq Mall also will expand and that others like it will emerge so that women can have more space to engage in commercial activity.

Opportunity to engage in business

Um Mukhtar al-Awlaki told Al-Mashareq she used to engage in business activity on a limited scale by offering products she was selling on social media sites.

Shabwa's new women-only mall has given her the opportunity to open a shop and engage in business on a wider sale, she said, and has allowed local women to leave their homes and shop in "total freedom".

Similarly, Duaa al-Awlaki, who used to import women's clothing and sell it at in-home shopping parties, now owns a women’s clothing shop in the mall.

The mall has given her the opportunity to open a business, she told Al-Mashareq, and has given her female clients the freedom to shop by themselves.

Iman Ahmad also used to import a variety of products from Saudi Arabia and sell them on a limited scale to friends and acquaintances.

After her family heard about the women-only mall, she told Al-Mashareq, they encouraged her to set up shop and try to realise her potential.

"The community has become more comfortable with women shopping, because the mall is exclusively for women and its staff consists of women only," she said.