Mental and physical health of women in Gaza

In conflict areas such as the Gaza Strip, women’s mental and physical health is affected by many factors.  In particular, these factors include the consequences of siege, war, rising poverty, homelessness, factional rivalries, and a patriarchal society. During the March 2015 Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility delegation to Gaza, I investigated conditions for women through interviews and visits with the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and three women’s empowerment and mental health groups with a focus on reproductive care, educational opportunities, divorce, domestic violence, ability to fulfill family responsibilities, and personal safety. The data collected demonstrates the intersection between political realities and mental and physical health and reveals the human impact of the siege.  These impacts include the need for economic rehabilitation in the region, and resolution of factional conflict for women to experience their full potential as wives, mothers, workers, and human beings. Given the extreme stress that Gazan women face, the personal, economic, and religious options for women become increasingly restricted. Through this study, it is clear that the provision of health must be contextualized and that issues of public health and women’s empowerment cannot be divorced from the challenging political realities of a war torn area and the centrality of human rights, defined as respect for personal autonomy, freedom from violence, availability of education and economic choices, and access to reproductive health care.