Domestic violence in Gaza worsens following Guardian of the Walls

With barely any assistance in Gaza, the victims are contacting Israeli emergency lines.

Palestinian artist Saja Mousa, 26, walks at the remains of her house that was damaged in an Israeli airstrike during last month's Israeli-Hamas fighting, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip June 23, 2021. (photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
Palestinian artist Saja Mousa, 26, walks at the remains of her house that was damaged in an Israeli airstrike during last month's Israeli-Hamas fighting, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip June 23, 2021.
(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
The number of women calling the No 2 Violence Against Women emergency line has risen in the past month, following the "Guardian of the Walls" operation in May. 
The 11-day conflict left Gaza in a difficult socio-demographic situation.
The women say that due to the situation, the violence has gotten worse since the war, and they are calling the emergency line looking for help.
Gili Sagi, the volunteering manager of the emergency line, said that the phone calls are done with the help of volunteer translators, and the women tell their stories about constant physical and mental abuse in their homes.
One woman told the emergency line about her marriage at a young age to a man ten years her senior. She currently lives with her husband's family and experiences abuse from her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law on a daily basis.
"They always curse at me," she said, "they tell me that I'm not worth anything. They humiliate me. They see me as property and decide for me what I should do and how I should behave."
The woman has been working since the age of 16, and now she wants to get a higher education, but her family is told her that it's not appropriate for a woman to have an education. She wants a car, but her family won't allow that either.
"They're preventing me from reaching my potential," she said, "And they do it with curses and threats that if I leave the house, it will be the end of me. They say that with them, no one leaves home."
Another woman who called the emergency line expressed suicidal feelings. The woman has been experiencing severe abuse from her husband for the past two years.
"During the call she just burst into tears," Sagi said. "She told us that she no longer has the energy to deal with the violence she experiences and she wants to kill herself." Sagi added that they tried to encourage her and they referred her to an assistance center in Gaza for women who experience domestic violence. They also give her the contact for legal representation over the phone and will stay in contact with her to help her through the process.
"In the Palestinian Authority there is almost no awareness on the subject, so there is also almost no support and assistance services for these woman," said Sagi.
The women who reach the emergency line are the minority. Many women do not have access to the internet and information. The women who cannot get help "get lost and are usually in mortal danger."