Pars Today- 25th of November has been named as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Yet, many women in some communities are still victims of oppression and violence. This situation is very critical in war regions like Gaza.
This year and this week, the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women was held while, despite the lapse of several decades from slogans on observing women’s rights, in parts of the world, women enjoy the least legal rights and even rights to life, as they are the main victims of war. The conditions of Palestinian women upset every free person. According to Pars Today, Spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baqaei, wrote in this regard on X social network, “On the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, let us remember the intense violence caused by decades of cruel occupation and colonial genocide in the Occupied Palestine.”
Baqaei described the level and extent of violence against women and girls in Gaza as unprecedented and shocking and added, “For the past year, tens of thousands of Palestinian women and girls have been killed and wounded and all mothers, women and girls of Gaza are repeatedly subjected to forced hunger and migration.”
With the lapse of more than one year since the Gaza war, the conditions of women and children are critical in the Occupied Palestine. Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, stressed on the issue in a report, “A number of the field personnel cannot find proper words to describe the situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the suffering, pain and horror in Gaza. More than %70 of the dead in Palestine are women and children. They are exposed to war crimes because of being Palestinian and women.”
The women of Gaza are experiencing tough conditions. Many of them have lost their husbands and children. Many of them are subjected to hunger while humanitarian assistance is banned from entering [the region]. Pregnant women in Gaza are forced to give birth under bombardment and shortage of medical services. They are exposed to inhumane and humiliating behaviors.
The UN rapporteurs have also expressed concern towards inhumane and humiliating behaviors of Israel with Palestinian women and girls.
A while ago, al-Jazeera channel, quoting from a Palestinian citizen under the siege in the medical complex “al-Shafa” in the Gaza Strip, disclosed that Israeli forces have raped a few Palestinian women in this medical complex and then martyred them.
Valid reports have also been released by international reporters about execution of Palestinian women with their children and forced detainment and transfer of Palestinians to detention centers in the West Bank and the Occupied Palestine.
Other world regions
Violence against women has also escalated in other countries, like Afghanistan. Trannom Saeedi, head of the network for political participation of Afghan women, says, “This year, Afghan women are marking November 25 while they have faced increasing violence, social humiliation and systematic injustice.”
Women in Europe and America, too, are facing violence and injustice so that, a few days ago, many women in France and Italy started protest rallies.
The demonstrators in the cities of Rome, Paris, Marseille and Lille, protested against all forms of violence against women including sexual, physical, psychological and economic.
In the US, too, women and girls, especially migrants and people of color, are experiencing dire conditions. According to the reports, averagely one out of every three American women is the victim of violence at home. Meanwhile, out of every two women, one experiences violence at home in a juncture in her marital life.
Therefore, violence against women and girls is still among the most prevalent cases of human rights violation in the world; while lack of a mechanism against it and leaving these series of violence unpunished have caused the trend to linger.
Key phrases: violence against women, women’s situation in Gaza, carnage of Palestinian women by Israeli military, women’s situation in Europe and America
RM/UR
