Violence against women and girls in Gaza surges, UN reports
A series of UN Population Fund reports reveals that early and forced marriages in war-torn Gaza spiked by 123% in the second quarter amid extreme poverty and displacement.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- UNFPA reports a sharp rise in gender-based violence and risks faced by women and girls in Gaza.
- Incidents of early and forced marriage surged by 123% in the second quarter of this year.
- Families increasingly marry off young daughters to secure food or protect their safety amid the crisis.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has released a series of reports analyzing data from 10 organizations, indicating that the prolonged crisis in war-torn Gaza has created conditions where women and girls face escalating risks of gender-based violence. The reports warn of a severe escalation in early and forced marriage incidents during the second quarter of this year, both of which are classified by the UN as forms of gender-based violence.
Another report featuring testimonies from 230 women in crowded displacement camps in Gaza City and Khan Younis presents a grim account of the violence experienced or witnessed. A displaced woman sheltering in a school turned into a shelter highlighted how rape victims are often married off to their rapists to avoid public shame and scandal, noting that weddings and celebrations frequently take place at the school the very next day when a rape case is discovered. Another woman recounted how a father married off his 14-year-old daughter in exchange for two bags of flour last year during the height of famine to feed his family.
Although collecting precise data remains challenging, the UNFPA reported a 123% increase in reported cases of early and forced marriage in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of this year. Most affected girls were aged between 12 and 17. With nearly the entire population of over two million Gazans displaced into squalid tent camps or damaged buildings, public services have largely collapsed while military strikes persist.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
"When rape cases are discovered in schools, you find weddings and celebrations at the school the next day."
A displaced woman in a Gaza shelter
Before the conflict, girls in Gaza outnumbered and outperformed boys in education beyond primary school. However, prolonged school closures have forced many children out of the formal education system, with boys pushed toward informal labor and girls facing heightened safety concerns. Living among strangers without privacy in a socially conservative society has led to increased reports of sexual harassment, prompting many families to view early marriage as a protective measure to preserve modesty.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has severely fractured the social fabric and child protection mechanisms. The rise in child marriages not only violates international human rights standards but also carries profound health risks, including higher rates of miscarriages and low birth weight among young adolescent mothers compared to adult women. International agencies continue to stress the urgent need for improved humanitarian conditions to mitigate these escalating threats.
The Women's Affairs Center in Gaza, a Palestinian NGO working alongside the UNFPA, documented distressing cases of young girls who suffered abuse following early marriages and subsequent pregnancies. Experts point out that girls in their early teens face significantly higher risks of miscarriages and delivering underweight babies than adult women. While Gazan law permits exceptions to the minimum marriage age of 17 with parental and judicial consent, local experts noted that legal safeguards were significantly weakened after Islamic courts handling family matters were closed for a major portion of the war.
Source: BBC World
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