Chapter III
To Be a Woman in Palestine
Since October 7, there has been a dynamic shift in the political nature of the Middle East. The Israeli’s ongoing carpet bombings and mass destructive efforts have created a security crisis within the region. While the current climate threatens the survivability of all Palestinians within the areas of conflict, armed conflict places women at a considerable disadvantage. The disproportionate ramifications women undergo during armed conflict is a long-sustained socio-political paradigm that has resurfaced time and again throughout history. As highlighted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the protection of women in armed conflict is a grave modern concern.
The imbalance of consequences stems from the basis of gender-based violence and reproductive health care. In the case of Palestinian women, we find that gender-based violence and targeted coercion have created a habit of self-censorship amongst Palestinian women. More constructively, the recent escalation of relations has played a prominent role in degrading reproductive health care. The mass internal displacement of Palestinians generated shelter adversity, and with overcrowded shelters and an urgent call for rationing, women’s privacy and accessibility to reproductive necessities have severely regressed. The reprisals women experience stretch beyond even that and include distorting familial structures. This chapter delves into exposing the extent of the challenges women in Palestine are currently facing. The chapter focuses on the implications the ongoing armed conflict has on women in terms of physiological and psychological impact.
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Navigate Chapter III
Gender-Based Violence in Palestine Today
A core ramification intensely propelled by armed conflict is gender-based violence. Accounts of gender-based violence in areas of conflict has been a central issue in history and that women are constantly subjugated to. Reprehensible acts of targeted killing, rape, mutilation, abduction, trafficking, and torture are all gory proponents of GBV in areas of armed conflict. Thus, with the distressing political climate in Palestine and the continuous state of violence, evidence of GBV is gruesomely evident. UN reports intricately outlined the tragic truth of the blatant gender-based violence and repression. By March 29, 2024, approximately 32,623 civilian Palestinian deaths in Gaza, 70 percent of whom were reportedly women and children. UN accounts of a portion of missing women due to forceful disseverances facilitated by the Israeli military further demonstrated the atrocity women continuously face in Palestine today. The horrors of GBV in Palestine continue as reports of sexual harassment and gendered violence resume. The current turbulent condition of Palestinian female security entails a dismal outlook for the future of other females in the area as the turmoil continues.
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Endangered Menstrual Health Care
Flight propagated by armed conflict and internal displacement creates a platform for increased refugee complications. Refugee complications are intensely endured by females who suffer primarily through the absence of viable reproductive health care and gender-based violence. Even when armed conflicts reach equilibrium or stalemates, displaced women still face post-conflict consequences, particularly in the absence of male figures and prolonged periods of nutritional depravity. Let’s zero in on the health implications of armed conflict concerning menstrual health care. The first important consideration to make when assessing the case of refugees and internally displaced women in zones of conflict is noting the geographical placement of shelters and refugee camps. Refugee camps and shelters are generally located in remote areas, which correspondingly hinders accessibility to proper menstrual healthcare facilities and hygiene supplies. Consequently, the absence of reproductive health material compromises the reproductive health of displaced females.
Hence, internally displaced Palestinians are barricaded in overcrowded shelters and camps with limited accessibility to essential services. Limited accessibility to basic needs is a consequence of severe bombings of civil facilities, notably hospitals, and evacuation protocols. Acquired reports reveal the current ill condition of internally displaced females in Palestine and their distressing realities. UN reports disclose accounts of women taking contraceptive pills to avoid the nightmares associated with menstruation. An ActionAid worker further divulges the sickening circumstances through accounts that displaced women resort to tent cutouts as a substitute for sanitary pads. Hence, it is paramount to reaffirm that the dismaying conditions in Palestine are further exacerbated for women due to blatant neglect of their fundamental rights to essential menstrual care.
Mothers and the Distortion of Family Structures
The ramifications of armed conflict are inducing a need for flight and completely deconstructing civic institutions. These consequences led to mass internal displacements and derailed accessibility to essential services. Women endure these ramifications on an exacerbated scale where limited access to food, reproductive health care, and continued violence considerably afflict the course of their pregnancies and familial relations. Limited access to food and water obstructs a caregiver and lactating woman’s ability to provide for her children. Furthermore, with targeted destruction of hospitals, inadequate supply of reproductive medical equipment, and electricity shortages, females and their newborn children face staggering health risks. The UN estimations portray these horrifying circumstances that 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women and 20,000 newborn babies are expected to be placed under calamitous risk. The imprudence of the armed conflict has also accounted for increasing the risks of miscarriages up to an appalling 300 percent.
Popular sociological war paradigms note that family structures are completely reformed during armed conflict. The reconfiguration of family structures is often caused by the absence of a male figure due to targeted killing, abdication, or conscription into retaliation efforts. This principle war concept is found in Palestine today, where, in the face of mass bombings and negligent killings, women are increasingly assuming the roles of heads of household. UN reports account 2,784 widowed women who are possibly assuming the roles of new heads of households following the deaths of their husbands underscore this occurrence. This phenomenon further aggravates women’s stance in Palestine who might not only be enduring the traumas of war but are likely to be saddled with burdens of inaccessibility to gendered health care, inability to provide for newborns, and increased vulnerability to gender-based violence.
Commemorating Women in Palestine
Literature has grown a hyper-fixation on highlighting the disparities women face within armed conflict-ridden zones. As is the case with Palestinian women, we find that constant reports on the physiological and psychological disadvantages they endure have a backfiring effect. Instead of simply informing audiences of the suffering they endure, it conversely forecasts them as dependent individuals who lack survival competency during periods of war. Scaling on their vulnerable position creates a nuisance that undermines Palestinian women’s competency. The reality resides on the contrary, however, where Palestinian women are comparably more resilient. Suggestions propose that Palestinian mothers command a more significant air for resilience as a byproduct of motherhood. Under this phenomenon, motherhood incites an urge to resolve, strengthening survival capabilities. More so, experts further divulge the potency of Palestinian females’ coping mechanisms. Regarding their disproportionately inflicted trauma, Palestinian women are propelled to adopt effective coping mechanisms to trample trauma and provide for dependent family members if need be.
Facts & Figures: the Tragic Reality of Women in Palestine Today
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Over 690,00 menstruating women and young girls in Gaza face severe menstrual care limitations.
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As of the end of March 2024, more than 10,000 women were killed. Of those 10,000 women, over 6,000 are reportedly mothers.
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Over 1 million women and young girls suffer limited to no access to food, water, reproductive and menstrual care, and WASH services.
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As of the end of March 2024, approximately 155,000 women were pregnant.
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As of the end of March 2024, approximately 936,700 women and girls were displaced.
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As of the end of March 2024, approximately 2,784 women were widowed.
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The risks of miscarriage have increased up to 300%.
* Statistics presented on the information sheet are retrieved from the UN Women & UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Additional sources can be found on our sources page.