WUNRN
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A woman
cries after the loss of one of her sons in |
GAZA CITY, 16 March 2010 (IRIN) -
Nahla*, aged 30, from Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said she was physically
and mentally abused for more than 10 years by her husband before being granted
a divorce three months ago.
Fear
and cultural factors prevented her from seeking help from women’s
organizations.
“I
never tried to go to the police to complain about my husband's criminal acts,
because he threatened to kill me if I did,” Nahla told IRIN. “And I never went
to complain to any women’s rights organizations because I didn’t think they
would be able to solve my problem - and I was also scared that my husband would
find out.”
Rights
activists blame the economy, Hamas-Fatah tensions and the conflict with
A March 2010 report by the
Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) explores
women’s perceptions of the organizations or legal bodies designed to protect
them, based on focus group discussions and interviews with women and girls in
the West Bank and Gaza between June and November 2009.
The levels of violence
against women in the Gaza Strip are higher than they were in previous years,
and compared to other countries the rates are certainly higher |
Social stigma
“Women
and girls revealed that their feelings of insecurity are related to the ongoing
conflict, society’s tacit acceptance of violence against women, their own lack
of awareness of service providers, and their distrust of the available
services,” the report said.
“Women
and girls explained that they were reluctant to resort to women’s
organizations, human rights organizations, or security and justice providers,
such as the police and courts, because of the strong social stigma attached to
reporting abuse.”
The
report said women recommended more awareness-raising events and education
campaigns for all segments of society about women’s rights and the institutions
in place to uphold them. They also felt better training was needed for members
of the social services, women’s and human rights organizations and hospital
staff and police - in addition to increased female representation in these
organizations and political life in general.
AWRAD survey
A 2008 survey of 2,400 Palestinians by
Ramallah-based independent research centre Arab World for Research &
Development (AWRAD) found that 74 percent of Palestinians did not know of a
women’s or human rights organization working in the field of women’s rights;
and 77 percent of respondents believed that laws needed to be enacted to
protect women from domestic violence.
Nahla’s
brothers called the police to report the fact that she was being beaten
regularly and kept locked in her home without access to a telephone to make
contact with her family. The police arrested her husband, kept him in custody
for five hours and then released him, she said.
The police
then took Nahla to her mother’s house, where she stayed until she was granted a
divorce by a local court, which ordered that her five children remain with
their father. Against his will, the court has given her the right to visit her
children one day a week.
“My
heart is torn apart because I live away from my kids, but my life with him was
hell,” Nahla said. “I could never go back.”
Gaza study
In
December 2009, a report by the Gaza-based Palestinian Women’s Information
and Media Center (PWIC) noted an upsurge in violence against women since Israel
imposed an economic blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas became
the de facto authority there.
|
A study found that 77 percent
of women in Gaza had experienced violence of various sorts (file photo) |
The
study - based on 24 workshops and interviews with 350 other women in the last
quarter of 2009 - found that 77 percent of women in Gaza had experienced
violence of various sorts, 53 percent had experienced physical violence and 15
percent sexual abuse.
"The
levels of violence against women in the Gaza Strip are higher than they were in
previous years, and compared to other countries the rates are certainly
higher," Huda Hamouda, director of PWIC, said. “Women are exposed to
hardships in every sphere, be it financial, social, political or lack of
security.”
She
said widespread unemployment was one of the biggest contributors to household
stress, and in turn male violence towards females.
"It's
hard to imagine a family living in dignity when they live on less than three
dollars a day. Many say they don’t feel respected and suffer depression.
Poverty affects education and public participation. It limits their social
standing,” she said.
Meanwhile,
the Commission on the Status of Women, a commission of the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC), on 12 March approved a text on the status of and
assistance to Palestinian women, to be sent to ECOSOC for adoption.
The draft resolution expresses concern about the “grave
situation of Palestinian women in the occupied Palestinian territory, including
East Jerusalem, resulting from the severe impact of the ongoing illegal Israeli
occupation and all of its manifestations”.
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