To date, 1.9 million people have been forcibly displaced from the Gaza Strip, where Israel has continued its intense air, sea and land attacks since October 7.
In environments where even the most basic needs cannot be provided, women especially experience privacy and hygiene problems.
"As women, we have no privacy anymore. Now we are on the streets in front of everyone," Palestinian woman Suad Maqbel said.
“THE ATTACK ON THE HONOR OF PALESTINIAN WOMEN HAS REACHED HORRIBLE DIMENSIONS”
Palestinians, who were forced to migrate from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip due to Israeli attacks, generally take shelter in schools and institutions affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
In these centers, which host more people than their capacity, it is very difficult for women to use the toilet and bathroom or to stay in private rooms. Since the Karam Abu Salim Border Gate remains closed, feminine hygiene materials cannot enter the region.
“They give birth in difficult conditions”
Rim al-Salim, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences,
"The attack on the dignity and rights of Palestinian women has reached new and horrific levels since October 7, when Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip began," Salim said.
Salim pointed out that pregnant women give birth in difficult conditions without anesthesia, surgical intervention or health precautions.
PRIVACY PROBLEM IN ASYLUM CENTERS
Women wait in long queues to enter the toilet at the shelter center in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Suad Maqbal (43), who was forced to migrate from the northwest of Gaza city, "We even have to queue for the toilets. Wasn't what happened to us in Gaza enough? Do we have to endure insults to our dignity here too? As women, we no longer have any privacy. Now we are on the streets in front of everyone," she said.