Meet Balqees Bani-Hani, Jordan’s first female mechanic

AMMAN: Breaking the dominant societal standards and defying the norm, Balqees Bani-Hani is a mechanic by profession in the Middle East.

She owns one of Jordan’s first auto-repair shops, named Irbid, that are fully and only operated by women.

Changing oil and fixing tyres, Balqees has physically demonstrated that there is nothing that women cannot do.

“Many people were critical. They said mechanics should only be men, but I say there is nothing that only men or women can do,” shared Balqees.

The purpose of starting her mechanical shop was to build a ‘safe place’ for women where they could get their automobile issues fixed instantly. In a country that is plagued by decreasing female employment in the workforce, Balqees aspires to open more workshops so that she could train women to work as mechanics.