“The pain and loss were overwhelming”: As gender-based violence rises in Gaza, case workers tell of harrowing conditions

GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory – “There’s been a sharp increase in survivors seeking help,” said Suhair, who works at a safe space for women and girls in Gaza’s central Deir El-Balah Governorate. 

“We’re working under extremely difficult conditions, including repeated incursions. There aren’t enough safe spaces for women and their children,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. 

Repeated, forced displacements, movement restrictions and a prolonged lack of fuel and electricity have also made it more difficult to help those most at risk. “We’re providing services over the phone because survivors can’t reach safe spaces,” added Suhair.

The war in Gaza has killed entire families and destroyed communities. Widespread illness, poverty, mass displacement and depleted healthcare and social services are all heightening stress levels within households, leading to rising reports of increased domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse. And many are turning to child labour and forced marriage to cope with devastating levels of hunger.

Mental and physical health risks

The safe spaces offer not only shelter, but psychological support and coping mechanisms to help manage a growing mental health crisis. 

“Women have experienced immense loss, including the death or imprisonment of relatives,” Ibtisam, 58, told UNFPA. “Looking for water, living without any privacy, and constantly worrying – it's exhausting.” 

With over 714,000 people – one third of Gaza’s population – forced to move once again over the past three months, families are being separated and the local support structures they once relied on have crumbled. Women and girls in particular describe feeling afraid on the street, at aid delivery points and in overcrowded, makeshift shelters that lack privacy, sanitation or basic security measures.

“Repeated displacement has created deep instability and insecurity, as the airstrikes never truly stop,” said Amal, 36, a case manager for the UNFPA-supported Women’s Affairs Centre in the Bureij refugee camp. A mother of three children, she has been displaced four times and lost ten family members when her home was bombed. 

“The pain and loss were overwhelming, but I continued to work, providing psychological support to women to ease their suffering. As a working woman, I face the added burden of trying to balance the demands of my family with my responsibilities outside the home – something that has become increasingly difficult under the weight of war.”

Reaching the most vulnerable 

After four months of Israel’s blockade on humanitarian assistance into Gaza, nearly all displacement sites report people sleeping in the open, with no means of protection. Safe space workers heard many painful testimonies, but these accounts remain significantly underreported mainly due to stigma, fear of retaliation, and lack of information about available services. With the collapse of the health, social and justice systems, many survivors are unable to report the abuse or seek care, compounding their trauma and perpetuating impunity for the abusers.

Asmaa, 38, works at a UNFPA-supported safe space in northern Gaza. “One of the most important aspects of my work is getting people with disabilities access to health and other services,” she said. 

With mobility severely restricted, telecommunications networks failing, and security risks rising, survivors with disabilities – who already face heightened barriers to accessing support – are now even more isolated, invisible in a collapsing protection system.

“Despite all the difficulties, I continue to support abused women and girls,” said Asmaa, who has been forced to move ten times since the war began. “I feel a deep sense of empathy for every case I support. I fully understand the pain of need, hunger and repeated displacement.”

Resilience amid catastrophe

With constant disruptions from hostilities and evacuation orders, many providers have lost essential equipment and files, meaning they must re-establish services from scratch, often in impossible circumstances. 

Some have shifted to remote support, but the lack of fuel has also triggered widespread telecommunications blackouts, severing hotlines for survivors and making even remote case management unfeasible. 

As fuel shortages limit critical infrastructure, the UN has warned there could be a total collapse of humanitarian operations, and some 80 per cent of health facilities providing life-saving care are expected to run out of fuel in the coming days. 

Since the blockade was imposed on 7 March, no UNFPA supplies have entered Gaza; the agency’s menstrual hygiene kits and other equipment are currently depleted. Three UNFPA-supported safe spaces have shut down and the remaining 14 are operating at very limited capacity. 

Salma, 38, a mother of four and case manager in Khan Younis added, “We feel the urgent needs of women and recognize the importance of supporting them. A small effort can make a big difference in their lives.”