06/05/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/05/2024 00:06
New UN Women survey data from Rafah highlights the depth of physical and mental despair, with 93% of women interviewed feeling unsafe and over half reporting medical conditions requiring urgent attention. With any Israeli ground invasion, these number will soar.
New York, May 6 - With the population of the southern city of Rafah, in Gaza, ballooning fivefold, from 250,000 to 1.4 million people, in just seven months of war, the physical and mental health conditions for women and girls have been deteriorating rapidly, as new data collected by UN Women reveals. The imminent risk of death and injuries among Rafah's 700,000 women and girls will escalate with any ground invasion, as they have nowhere to go, to escape the bombing and killing.
More than 10,000 women have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, among them 6,000 mothers leaving 19,000 orphaned children behind. As a 45-year-old woman describes: "There is no safety or security. I am scared for my life, my husband's, and my children's. If I were to talk about it for the next 100 years, I cannot describe the fear we live in".
UN Women's survey data sheds light on the devastating reality of life for women and girls in Rafah:
"Women and girls in Rafah, as in the rest of Gaza, are in a state of constant despair and fear already. A ground invasion would be an unbearable escalation that risks killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee again. We must protect civilians. We need an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded and safe humanitarian aid distribution across all Gaza. The need for peace has never been more urgent. This is our only hope", said Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director.
UN Women calls for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2728 (2024) adopted on 25 March 2024 which demands an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.
Source: UN Women's primary data collection, covering 360 respondents - 182 women - in Rafah by end April 2024.