oPt: Seven ways the water crisis in Gaza is hurting women

Attachments • Download Report (PDF | 759.41 KB) Introduction The destruction of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems in Gaza today constitutes a humanitarian catastrophe with profound gendered impacts. Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has involved the systematic destruction of water infrastructure and a continued humanitarian blockade, drawing widespread international attention and condemnation. However, the specific impacts of this water collapse on women, and the actions needed to address them, have not been so well documented. This paper foregrounds in gendered dimensions of water, sanitation and hygiene deprivation in Gaza, and examines the urgent actions required to address them. This paper draws on powerful testimonies from women in Gaza themselves to spell out their experiences of the destruction of WASH systems. It sets out key themes from their accounts, such as: how in Gaza today women must walk to distant water points and face the threat of gender-based violence conditions for just a few litres of water; how pregnant and menstruating women cannot get the water they need to keep clean and hydrated; how the lack of water adds to the workload of care still largely done by women, whether that is laundry, cleaning or caring for children at constant risk of disease and dehydration; how widows and female-headed households are struggling without the extra support they need; or how elderly and disabled women are sometimes not bathing for days, faced with services that do not adapt to their needs. The briefing draws on interviews with 21 displaced women and girls across Gaza, as well as a literature review of humanitarian reports, to document the gendered impacts of the WASH collapse. It also looks at the coping strategies women are being forced to adopt to survive. Finally, we call for urgent action on this water emergency. Humanitarian actors, donors, and states must shift immediately from short-term emergency delivery to gender-responsive, protection-centred and rights-based WASH recovery. Restoring safe and sufficient water access, ensuring truly inclusive sanitation, supporting women-led initiatives, and strengthening accountability are essential to protecting lives and re-establishing water and sanitation as a fundamental human right for the people of Gaza.