RAMALLAH, Saturday, March 11, 2023 (WAFA) - Palestinian women cannot celebrate their special day- International Women's Day - which falls on the 8th of March every year, due to the heavy burden and pains they carry as a result of illegal practices and policies of Israeli occupation committed against the Palestinian people, according to ActionAid Palestine (AAP), which marked this occasion by calling the international community to secure protection for Palestinian women by practicing pressure on Israel to stop its ongoing violations against Palestinian people that directly and indirectly affect women.
Palestinian women continue suffering from the impacts of Israel’s widespread and systematic human rights violations, the gendered implications of the prolonged military occupation, as well as patriarchal social norms and discriminatory laws. Under these conditions, they continue to struggle against many forms of oppression and injustice, including Israel’s excessive use of force and shoot-to-kill policy, movement restrictions, house demolitions, harassment, intimidation and ill-treatment at Israeli checkpoints scattered throughout the West Bank, including around East Jerusalem, alongside increased measures of collective punishment, such as 16 years of illegal blockade imposed on Gaza, punitive residency revocations and punitive home demolitions.
AAP said 18 women were killed by Israeli occupation forces during 2022, and one woman was killed from the beginning of 2023 to date. In addition, 172 women were detained in Israeli prisons in 2022. There are 29 women in Israeli prisons until the end of 2022, two among them are underage (children) and two detainees are held in administrative detention.
The Women’s participation rate in the labor force in 2022 is 19% out of the total number of women at work age in 2022. Notably, this percentage was 17% in 2021, knowing that the rate of men's participation in the labor force reached 71% in 2022, compared to 69% in 2021.
The unemployment rate among women participating in the labor force was about 40% compared to 20% among men in 2022.
The theme of International Women’s Day 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, highlighting impact of digital gender gap in widening social and economic inequalities and calling for more efforts to be exerted to improve digital and personal skills of women and protect their rights in digital spaces and address online Gender Based Violence (GBV).
Palestinian women suffer from the digital gender gap. In 2022, about 72% of females (10 years and above) in Palestine owned a smartphone compared to 74% of males, while 88% of females (10 years and above) in Palestine used the Internet compared to 89% of males. out 10% of currently or ever-married women (15-64 years) in Palestine were exposed to some form of cyber violence through social media networks. Also, 8% of women were exposed to violence through telecommunication (any threatening, blackmailing, or harassing different people or parties through calls or messages). While about 12% of females (18-64 years) have never been married in Palestine were exposed to some forms of cyber violence through social media networks. 8% of females were also exposed to violence through telecommunication (any threatening, blackmailing, or harassing different people or parties through calls or messages).
To address this digital reality of Palestinian women, AAP adopts a gender-responsive approach in designing and implementing its interventions and programs to improve the digital skills of Palestinian women and increase their awareness about their cyber security and digital rights in digital spaces through different media campaigns and training.
AAP currently implements INTERNISA project which aims to bridge the digital gender gap and provide marketable digital skills in Mediterranean territories by developing a network and a portal that brings closer the demand and supply of the labor market.
AAP continues targeting women in marginalized areas in the south of the West Bank and Gaza Strip where they suffer from marginalization, GBV and the effects of occupations by following a multilayered approach to strengthening community mechanisms for prevention and protection against GBV and sexual violence. At the heart of this lies enhancing the capabilities, leadership and influence of women and girls, being the key agents of change, informing them about their rights and the root causes for their discrimination and oppression, as well as mobilizing them to protect and advocate their political, social and economic rights, and in particular to confront GBV in all its forms.
M.K.
