UN Women Calls for Urgent Action to End the Hardships Faced by Palestinian Women in the West Bank

UN Women, a United Nations agency, has called for urgent action to end the violence and hardships faced by Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank. According to the Emirati news agency WAM, the organization warned that the situation of women and girls in the occupied territory is continuing to deteriorate due to increasing settler violence, military operations, and restrictions on movement, while movement restrictions have reached their highest level in the past two decades. In its latest analysis of the situation of Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, the organization said that approximately 83,200 households are headed by women, representing one in every eight households.

The analysis said that this figure is likely lower than the actual number. It also highlighted data released last July by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), according to which more than 41,500 people have been displaced in the occupied West Bank. Based on gender-disaggregated population data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 20,000 of those displaced were women and girls. According to UN Women’s analysis, women heading households face heavy responsibilities. Among them, 82 percent manage the household income, 77 percent are responsible for childcare, and 75 percent make all decisions concerning the safety of family members on their own, while 65 percent independently submit applications for assistance. Reviewing the hardships faced by Palestinian women, the analysis said that there are approximately 925 movement obstacles across the occupied West Bank, including checkpoints staffed by personnel, earth mounds, roadblocks, and trenches.

This is the highest number recorded in the past two decades, with 40 percent of these checkpoints located in Area H2 of Hebron. The organization confirmed that nearly nine out of 10 women heads of households surveyed said they felt unsafe while traveling through checkpoints, while more than half said that restrictions on movement hindered their access to employment opportunities. All the women surveyed reported completely avoiding checkpoints. UN Women warned that displaced households headed by women are facing severe difficulties in meeting their basic needs, including access to cash, food, clothing, hygiene supplies, and shelter. They are also increasingly concerned about the violence and security risks faced by their children.