UN "Expert" Says Israel to Blame for Palestinian Violence Against Palestinian Women

According to a new report by the UN's "expert" on violence against women, Israel is to blame for Palestinian men abusing Palestinian women. In the report, presented to the UN Human Rights Council on June 12, 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Dubravka Simonović claims that the "occupation" is responsible for Palestinian domestic abuse, early child marriages, and the impunity granted to abusers by Palestinian authorities.

In the words of the report:

"32. Several testimonies the Rapporteur collected highlighted that the economic situation, the level of unemployment and the pressure of the occupation have a greater impact on women's and children's lives, making them more vulnerable to domestic violence, in particular in Gaza, due to the constant pressure felt by the blockade and the recurring cycles of conflict, and the overcrowding that limits their mobility and privacy. It was noted, in particular in relation to the situation in Gaza that the political situation also serves as 'mitigating circumstance' that makes violence against women more acceptable, while social norms shame women who report abuse to the police.
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39. The Rapporteur notes that there are no reliable statistics on child marriage but was informed from reliable sources that approximately 9-10% of marriages happen between spouses who are under the age of 18 years old. There is also an increase pressure for girls to get married where in the context of the occupation, marriage being seen as a coping strategy but also to cover up rape and incest...
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44. Bedouin women are particularly vulnerable to gender based violence, including sexual violence, including in a context of fear of, or forced transfer by Israeli authorities...
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45. Similarly to Bedouin women, internally displaced women suffer from the same lack of access to the job markets. Palestinian women who were relocated to refugee camps have restricted entry into East Jerusalem to find work due to the Wall between Area A, where the majority of the camp is located and Area C (controlled by Israeli), where some of its periphery is located. The Rapporteur observed that this lack of access leads to higher incidence of gender-based violence in itself, on top of the already established fact that displacement increases the vulnerability and instances of gender-based violence.
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47. Despite the existence of some laws condemning violence, their implementation is challenged by the absence of a formal governmental authority in specific areas of the OPT. In this regard, the occupation is a real obstacle to the State's due diligence obligation to prevent violence against women in areas where it does not have full jurisdiction, because of the fragmentation of the areas under different control and the political divide between the Gaza de facto authority and the Government of the State of Palestine.
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54. Decades of Israeli occupation in parallel with the continuation of patriarchal attitude in Palestinian society expose women to subordination and continuing violence and marginalization from playing an active role in political life, to engage in economic and social life and ultimately to make their own decisions."