Women’s Rights in Gaza Deteriorate as Displacement Ensues

Women in Palestine have abysmal agency, a conforming result of conservative cultural norms and the prolonged Israeli occupation. Women have severe social standings and endure inhumane standards day by day. These include domestic violence, sexual harassment, early marriage and femicide. Palestine’s discriminatory and outdated rulings obscure survivors of violence from accessing gender-responsive services. 

In October 2023, terrorist group Hamas attacked the Gaza Strip in Palestine in retaliation for Israel occupation of the land. The attack skyrocketed a war between Palestine and Israel, placing their distinct populations under fire. Amongst the Palestinian female population, the issue of displacement heightened under the Palestinian-Israeli war. Displacement is the forceful moving of an individual into a new territory or place. Women and girls have taken a disastrous toll in displacement, with around 1 million women and girls having been displaced. These women face conditions including shortages of food, water, shelter, and access to health. 

Furthermore, the inaccessibility is life-threatening to the estimated 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, of which 5,500 women in Palestine give birth every month, according to the UN Populations Fund.  The United Nations Relief Agency reports, “Shelters for internally displaced people (IDPs) are unbearably overcrowded with little or no privacy, especially for women and girls. The shelter at the UNRWA Khan Younis Training Center (KYTC), for example, is one of the largest shelters in southern Gaza with 40,000 IDPs and 140 births recorded since the war began. In Rafah, meanwhile, overcrowding means that over 480 people share a single toilet.”

To help better the standard and assist the women suffering under discriminatory conditions, donations to organizations that target female healthcare in Palestine can contribute to the cause sufficiently. Examples of these include UN supported projects such as ‘The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/1979)’ as well as other initiatives sought to aid and eradicate displacement for women. Standing in solidarity with the women in Palestine can ensure a step closer to a future in which equality, safety, and peace can prevail.