Agents of Change: The Role of Palestine’s Women-Led Organisations in Crisis delves into the severe and gender-specific impacts of the ongoing war on Gaza on Palestinian women and girls. Against the backdrop of the war on Gaza and escalation in the Occupied West Bank, Palestinian women have borne the brunt of violence, forced displacement, and systemic discrimination, yet have shown remarkable resilience and leadership in the face of these overwhelming challenges.
Key findings
- Gender-Specific Violence and Forced Displacement: Palestinian women face intensified risks of gender-based violence, including sexual abuse, domestic violence and forced marriage, exacerbated by forced displacement into overcrowded and unsafe environments. These conditions have eroded the social fabric, heightening women’s vulnerability and stripping them of safety, dignity, and agency.
- Mental Health and Well-being Crisis: The psychological impact of the war on both men and women is devastating, with many experiencing severe stress, anxiety, and trauma. Women, however, report feeling the most affected, citing instability, repeated displacement, and loss of privacy as key stressors. One 16-year-old girl said, “We don’t know where to go to find security.” The crowded living conditions exacerbate tensions, with another girl expressing, “No one can tolerate the other.”
- Additional workload and responsibilities: Women are primarily responsible for the physically demanding and time-consuming work of running a household in a war zone, from carrying heavy buckets of water to their tents to cooking over open fires, while also taking on additional caring responsibilities, such as tending to injured relatives. Amid severe food shortages, women are eating last and the least to ensure others in the family are fed, with Hala, a staff member at Alianza por la Solidaridad, commenting: “The worst thing women do, they put themselves in the bottom of everything, the last on the list, deprioritising herself and taking care of others”
- Obstetric Care in Crisis: Obstetric care in Gaza has been severely compromised, with only two of the twelve functioning hospitals able to provide maternity services. Pregnant women face high-risk conditions, including inadequate prenatal care and unsterilized medical equipment, leading to higher rates of complications and mortality. UNICEF described the dire conditions as babies being “delivered into hell.” Doctor Adnan Radi, a Consultant and Head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at Al-Awda Hospital, noted: “The mortality rate among women giving birth and their newborns is higher due to inadequate medical care.”
- Loss of safe spaces and gender-specific support: Access to safe spaces and support for women experiencing gender-based violence has hugely diminished. Repeated forced displacements and communications challenges have left many women without consistent information about what help is available, while organisations providing protection services for women have been put under immense operational stress due to funding shortages and fears for their own safety. The complete collapse of Gaza’s legal system has left a legal vacuum, with women unable to obtain justice nor secure their legal rights.
- Exclusion from humanitarian assistance: With aid often accessed through registration by men, households led by divorced or separated women disproportionately face challenges obtaining it. Women can face harassment and blackmail when accessing aid, with one NGO staff member commenting: “Women face blackmailing from service providers to help them access faster by paying higher fees or commissions.”
- Leadership Amid Crisis: Despite severe hardships, Palestinian women have emerged as leaders in their communities, managing displacement camps, providing critical services, and advocating for resources. Samira Khalil, who manages Al-Istiqama Camp, turned her pain into motivation to help others: “After losing my children and home, I sought refuge in Al-Istiqama camp, lived in tents, and suffered like the rest of the people. I took it upon myself to strive to help displaced people.”