Harassment and violence are considered taboo subjects in a conservative society.
Women in the Gaza Strip are subjected to sexual exploitation and harassment by local staff of humanitarian missions, such as UNRWA. This was reported by the Associated Press news agency.
The UN and humanitarian organizations typically work with local communities: they pay people as contractors, recruit volunteers, or appoint community-chosen leaders as liaisons.
Women have been exploited by local men who promised them food, money, water, essentials, or jobs in exchange for sexual services.
In the Associated Press report, six women shared their experiences, each speaking on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, as well as because sexual harassment and violence are considered taboo subjects in a conservative society controlled by the radical Islamist group Hamas.
Journalists also spoke with psychologists and humanitarian organizations, who reported an increase in cases of exploitation, even though data collection is difficult, and a growing desperation that forces women to make impossible decisions amid the humanitarian crisis amidst ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip.
One psychologist told AP that her organization, which focuses on the protection of women and children, had reviewed dozens of cases of sexual exploitation of vulnerable women by men, including cases where women became pregnant. The psychologists, all of whom are Palestinians working in local organizations in Gaza, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns about the confidentiality of the women involved in these cases.
Psychologists and women's organizations stated that the number of such cases has increased — more people are left homeless, dependent on aid, and crowded into camps due to the war. One psychologist reported that some women were expelled from their homes when their husbands learned of what had happened.
Before the war, reports of exploitation came in once or twice a year, but now their numbers have sharply increased, the Women's Affairs Center told AP, adding that many organizations will not draw attention to these figures and this problem, as "most of us prefer to focus on violence and violations" by Israeli military forces.
Six women spoke to AP anonymously about how they faced harassment while searching for food for their children.
"The terrible reality is that humanitarian crises make people vulnerable in many ways — often resulting in an increase in sexual violence," said Heather Barr, deputy director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "The situation in Gaza today is indescribable, especially for women and girls."
Israel demands that Hamas militants, who control the Gaza Strip, return hostages who were abducted on October 7, 2023, during a bloody attack and taken to the Palestinian enclave.
