In a report released 24 March 2009, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) said the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Gaza observed escalated domestic violence and marital rape during and after the 23-day war that ended on 18 January 2009. Local nongovernmental organizations and mental health professionals assisted in the study. In particular, the organizations uncovered the fact that many women in the study had never experienced domestic violence or marital rape before the war. Many women who divorced their abusive husbands or who became widows due to the war also frequently had to fight their husbands’ relatives to maintain custody of their children. For the full text of the article, please click here.
Compiled from: IRIN News, Occupied Palestinian Territory: UN Tracks Rising Violence against Women in Gaza (24 March 2009).