Posted on March 6, 2020
Access to Justice for the Most Vulnerable in the Gaza Strip

“My story began 20 years ago, when I was wed to my husband then at the age of 14. It was even before the issuance of my identity card. Married life was not easy. It took me years to understand how a successful marriage should be, and then it ended – five years after his sudden departure,” Arwa explains.
Arwa is a 35-year old woman living in the Gaza Strip. A mother of five boys, aged between nine and 20, Arwa was granted her right of divorce by the Family court with the help of a legal aid clinic supported by the UNDP, UN Women, and UNICEF Sawasya joint programme - Promoting the Rule of Law in Palestine.
With 55 percent of youth being unemployed and living in densely populated rural areas, just like Arwa and her family, it becomes harder for women to pursue an education and economic opportunities. The practice of early marriage is widespread.
“My ex-husband was a member of my extended family. I was married at 14 to a man that I have never met. My marriage journey started with a total shock. We were not easily getting along and I was subjected to regular physical and verbal abuse. Every time I leave the house to my family’s, they would take me back to my husband. They feared the thought of divorce and the stigma that follows within our community. This was how I spent 15 years of my life”.
During the 2014 hostilities, Rafah border with Egypt was open for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip without restrictions. Unlike now, people did not have to register to be allowed to cross. Arwa’s husband suddenly left Gaza to a foreign country without planning it previously with her and the family. He left behind him five children and a desperate mother with no resources or prospects. “He called me afterwards saying: I will not divorce you and will not help you come to where I live; deal with it in Gaza!”, Arwa added.
“I was born in a family that did not have a stable income. My mother was not educated, and my father was a worker with no education as well. I believe my situation today would have been different if my family’s economic state was better. Our current living conditions today are harsh. I cannot provide my sons with their basic needs. They request small and ordinary things; I cannot afford them. They requested new jackets for the winter season, but they had to wear old and small ones”.

Poor and illiterate women are the most vulnerable when it comes to accessing the justice system. Sawasya, through a firmly established partnership with an integrated network of legal providers, was able to ensure that the farthest left behind can access the Family and ordinary court systems and have their rights safeguarded. This support has proved particularly critical in ensuring that women with limited financial means can claim their rights - particularly in cases of divorce, custody, maintenance and inheritance – and that children in conflict with the law access fair trial and alternative pathways to detention. In 2019 alone, more than 36,000 Palestinians, including over 27,000 women and children, were able to consult a legal aid lawyer or have their case represented in court, 65 percent of them living in the Gaza Strip. But, economic empowerment is just as critical to enable these women to face their financial hardships, stigmatization and start again, instead of falling back into the cycle of violence and injustice.