No end in sight for Gaza’s ‘war on women’

“They are losing their lives, They were sick, hungry, exhausted, keeping their families together despite their constant fear and loss.”, Maryse Guimond told journalists at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from Jerusalem.

Ms Guimond recently concluded a week-long mission to Gaza – a place she has visited more than 50 times in her six years in the job, including after previous escalations.

She was not prepared for the “complete and inhuman destruction” she witnessed this time.

War ‘attached’ to women’s faces and bodies

“What I witnessed challenged my worst fears for the women and girls I have worked with over the years,” she said.It is unbearable to witness the daily escalation of violence and devastation of a war against women with no end in sight.“ .

The United Nations Women The agent said she entered a world of devastation and utter deprivation when the fence at the Kerem Shalom border crossing closed behind her.

“I cannot stress enough the impact this war has had on women and girls. I hardly recognise the women I knew before the war. The past nine months have been etched on their faces, on their bodies.”

Death, displacement, deprivation

Ms Guimond explained that Gaza is a “war against women” simply because of the number of deaths and injuries, as well as the general level of devastation that women there face.

“We have never seen this before,” she said.

More than 10,000 women have been killed since the conflict erupted on October 7, 2023, following brutal Hamas-led attacks on Israel in which some 1,200 citizens and foreigners were killed and 250 others taken hostage.

The situation in this land is dire. More than half a million women “are starving terribly, eating the last and youngest members of their families, skipping meals and not eating healthy food for months”, she said, citing UN Women data.

Furthermore, people are “living in overcrowded spaces where infectious diseases are more prevalent.” Without water, women are forced to shave their heads to avoid infection.

Pregnant women ‘scared’

“I could not recognize the Gaza I knew,” said Ms. Guimond. “Homes, hospitals, shops, schools, universities were destroyed. Crowds of men, women, children were trying to survive in makeshift tents and overcrowded shelters, surrounded by rubble and utter devastation.”

Since most hospitals are no longer functioning, access to health care and medical treatment is limited.

Asked about the situation for pregnant women, Ms Guimond replied that “some people are so scared of giving birth in conditions they have no control over that we have heard that some people are actually asking if there is a way for them to give birth more quickly”.

‘Nowhere is safe’

Since January, UN Women has published several reports on the gender dimensions of the conflict in Gaza, highlights This is essentially a “women’s protection crisis.”

Gaza has a population of about two million people, 90 percent of whom have been displaced, including nearly a million women and girls who have been displaced multiple times in an ever-shrinking space.

“There is no safe place for women in Gaza,” she said. “They move with no cash, no assets, and no idea how and where they will live. Many women told me they would not move again because it did not affect their safety or survival.“ .

Yet in the face of death, disease and displacement, women in Gaza “show incredible strength and humanity in their struggle for survivalwith hope and solidarity amid devastation,” she added.

Latest UN Women Gender Alertpublished last month, looked at how the war played out. Impacting 25 Women-Led Organizations in the occupied Palestinian territories, including 18 bases in Gaza.

They have more than 1,500 staff providing shelter management, hygiene kits, food parcels, psychosocial support and other essential services, despite funding shortfalls.

These organizations need financial support to sustain their efforts, she said. But they also need to see increased representation of women at the decision-making table at every stage of humanitarian assistance – from planning to final delivery – and they need it now.

Ms Guimond concluded her briefing by reiterating the longstanding UN call for peace in Gaza, full humanitarian access through the opening of all land crossings into the enclave, an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages.