UNIFEM: Voicing the needs of Men and Women in Gaza

The United Nations Gender Task Force has launched the results of a household survey on the impacts, needs and perceptions of men and women in the Gaza Strip following the Israeli military offensive in 27 December 2008 - 18 January 2009. The survey conducted in March 2009 through face-to-face interviews screens more than 1,100 adult men and women across the Gaza Strip.



Respondents, regardless of gender, region, or social sector consistently rate psychological trauma and stress as a main concern – and express a critical need for psycho-social services including food and water. The overwhelming obstacles to getting access to psycho-social support are material and informational than social reservations or taboos. With increased trauma and stress and limited access to professional psycho-social services, there is a rising problem of self-medication with unsupervised pharmaceutical therapies among the Gaza population. Respondents express the same high level of concern over domestic violence as they do towards Israeli military violence. 37% of women cite domestic violence as the primary safety problem facing women and girls in their communities, while more than 50% of men cite public and political violence as the main safety and security problem facing men and boys. The highest perceived rise in domestic violence against women is among households displaced by the war and in the southern Gaza Strip where there is also the strongest perception ( 57%) of an increase in domestic violence against children.

During the time of crisis, women are usually less able to cope than men because they have less access to and control over resources , limited decision making authority and extensive demands on their time and income.



The survey also revealed that women have limited access and control over access to health services, mainly because of distance.

Approximately 20% of households said that boys’ needs are considered as a priority when there is a food shortage. The most vulnerable household members, at risk of not getting adequate food quantities in a situation of food shortage and forced prioritizing, are elderly men and women. While 60% of respondents claim to have received food aid since the end of the war, about half of the recipients express dissatisfaction with the assistance (50% regarding quantity and 15% regarding the appropriateness of the aid received