The Attacks on the Rights of Palestine’s Women and Girls
On Wednesday 22 April, The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security and The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights, in collaboration with Amnesty International and the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute held a Parliamentary discussion focused on the attacks on the rights of Palestine’s women and girls.
Chaired by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, the event was joined by speakers Lauren Aarons, Senior Gender Adviser, Amnesty International; Hanya Aljamal, award winning humanitarian worker and current MA candidate of Human rights law at Goldsmiths from Gaza; Dr Ewelina Ochab, Programme Lawyer, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute; and Kifaya Khraim, Advocacy Unit Manager, Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling.
Israel’s genocide on Gaza is inflicting compounding harms of women and girls. Women and girls bear the brunt of collapsing healthcare and mass displacement; medical staff describe an exponential rise in maternal and neo-natal health conditions; women with cancer and life-threatening illnesses facing interrupted or inaccessible care; and the repeated closure of the Rafah and other crossings are further reducing already limited aid deliveries and medical evacuations.
A report released by Amnesty International in 2024 stated that Israel’s actions and omissions in Gaza amounted to genocide under international law. This finding was made two years ago but continues in 2026, with people in Palestine continuing to be killed after the agreement of a ceasefire. Importantly, beyond increasing levels of violence, Israel continues to impose conditions on the people of Gaza that are incompatible with life.
Experiences of healthcare in Gaza cannot be separated from experiences of killing, loss, detention, grief and trauma, as they form the backdrop to all reproductive decision making. UN Women have reported at least 927 attacks on health facilities and ambulances in Gaza. The destruction of infrastructure has damaged reproductive healthcare, with only 37% of reproductive health centres functioning. Anaemia is widespread because of malnutrition, and many new mothers can no longer breastfeed, instead forced to spend their savings on formula. Beyond maternal care, cancer patients in Gaza have also been unable to receive treatment because of hospitals being attacked. Transfers of urgent cancer cases to the West Bank for treatment had previously taken place, but this has also stopped.
Women in Gaza have been left destitute, relying on their husbands or other male providers for financial support. Many women have been exposed to sexual abuse and extortion because of this new vulnerability and speakers shared that fear for safety and extreme poverty is creating a new drive in cases of early marriage.
Attacks on women and girls also take place in the West Bank, where women’s belongings have been looted and they have been forced to undress and sexually assaulted. There have also been documented instances of Israel soldiers abusing children, including young girls travelling to school. Furthermore, organisations in Palestine have documented the use of sexual violence to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities. Women and men in detention centres face systematic rape and sexual assault.
The international community has an obligation to respond to what is happening in Gaza. Speakers called for UK to stop acting in a ‘business as usual’ fashion and to fulfil its internal obligations regarding genocide. This would include calling for sanctions on those responsible, acting on existing International Criminal Court arrest warrants and implementing a comprehensive arms embargo.
At the same time, the UK much scale up the reproductive healthcare support it provides. This would include support women in Gaza to be evacuated to receive treatment. The UK Government should also support Gazan women’s rights groups responding on the frontline.