Gender Equality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

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Palestine
flag_Palestine.png
Flag of Palestine
Population (in Mil.) NA
Gross Domestic Product (In USD Billions - WB) NA
Sex Ratio (m/f) 1.04
Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m) 1.045
Fertility Rate -
Income Ratio (f/m) ..
Literacy Ratio (f/m) 0.93
Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m) 1.03
Women in Parliament (in %) NA
INDICES
Human Development Index - /169
Social Institutions and Gender Index - /86
Gender Inequality Index - /138
Gender Equity Index - /157
Women’s Economic Opportunity Index - /113
Global Gender Gap Index - /134
More information on variables

This article is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

Contents

In the news

Social Institutions

The West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem are, in effect, a group of non-contiguous territories governed by the Palestinian Authority which was formed in 1994, and which in early 2011 is controlled in Gaza by Hamas, and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Fatah.[1] The income level of the Palestinian Authority is not ranked by the World Bank.[2] Restrictions on freedom of movement have had a considerable negative effect on the economy, according to Azzouni writing in a 2010 report for Freedom House. The majority of the population is Muslim, but there is also a small Christian minority.[3] The situation of women (and of men) is affected by ongoing hostilities between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.[4] Poverty is widespread, laws are poorly enforced, and security concerns, Israeli checkpoints and the Separation Wall place severe restrictions on freedom of movement. In addition, because of the territories’ status, a complex mixture of laws and regulations are in place, making it very difficult for women to fully ascertain their legal rights.[5] In total, four sets of laws govern the lives of Palestinians: those of the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Egypt and Jordan.[6] Palestinian women also face discrimination within Palestinian society.[7] Overall, despite high levels of education and activity within civil society, women remain underrepresented in public life, in part due to the societal norms that place pressure on women (and men) to conform to traditional gender roles as is the case in the rest of the Arab region.[8] In addition, it has historically been difficult for Palestinian women to have their voices heard within the society, when they have spoken out against gender discrimination and violence, because, in the words of one report, ‘…the occupation assumes the first for everybody, relegating justice for women to a secondary issue on the national agenda.’[9] However, according to interviews with women’s rights activists from the Palestinian Territories included in a 2010 UNFPA report, one outcome of the years of hardship that the Palestinians have endured is a gradual change in gender roles and relations, towards greater equality.[10] The Palestinian Basic Law mentions equality of all citizens, regardless of gender or other listed social attributes.[11] The Basic Law also enshrines Sharia as the principal source of law .[12] President Abbas signed the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2009, but as Azzouni states, it ‘is unclear what effect this move will have on Palestinian laws, and whether it is legally valid given the PA’s lack of full statehood and other impediments.’[13] The Palestinian Authority is ranked 114th out of 187 countries in the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI) with a score of 0.641.[14] The Palestinian Authority is not ranked under the Gender Inequality Index or in the 2011 Global Gender Gap Index.[15]


Discriminatory Family Code

Personal Status Laws are based on religious laws inherited from Jordan (the 1976 Personal Status Law, applicable in the West Bank) and Egypt (the unmodified 1954 Family Law, applicable in Gaza).[16] In both cases, these laws contain discriminatory provisions in the areas of marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.[17] Matters relating to personal status are handled by Sharia courts for Muslims, and ecclesiastical courts for Christians.[18] Within the West Bank, the legal age for marriage is 15 for girls and 16 for boys; in Gaza, it is 17 for girls and 18 for boys.[19] According to data held by the UN, in 2004, 13.5% of girls aged 15 to 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed, but overall, prevalence of early marriage appears to be declining.[20] Azzouni reports that the construction of the Separation Wall is distorting marriage patterns by making it more difficult for people to choose spouses from other areas.[21] Women cannot marry without permission from their closest male relative on the paternal side.[22] Polygamy is legally accepted in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in accordance with Islamic law that allows Muslim men to take up to four wives, but is practised by less than 4% of men, according to Azzouni.[23] It is unclear if there are any conditions placed on this right. The Emory University School of Law draws attention to an important exception: in East Jerusalem, Israeli law prohibits Muslim Palestinians from entering into polygamous unions.[24] Analysis of Islamic Personal Status Laws, undertaken by Uhlman, reveals a general discrimination against women with regards to parental authority.[25] Fathers are considered to be the natural guardian of children, whereas women are merely physical custodians.[26] In the event of divorce, mothers normally have the right to physical custody of sons until the age of ten and of daughters until the age of 12.[27] These periods can be extended by a judge, but divorced women forfeit custody rights if they remarry.[28] Men are able to repudiate their wives, i.e. divorce them unilaterally, whereas women are only able to initiate divorce under certain limited circumstances (including illness and desertion).[29] The only other option for a woman wishing to divorce is to obtain a ‘khula’ divorce, whereby the wife sacrifices her dowry and financial maintenance.[30] Even here, the divorce cannot be obtained without the husband’s consent.[31] Orthodox and Protestant Christian women are able to obtain divorces under certain circumstances, whereas Catholic women have no right to divorce.[32] Women cannot confer citizenship to their children.[33]

Sharia law provides for detailed and complex calculations of inheritance shares.[34] Women may inherit from their father, mother, husband or children and, under certain conditions, from other family members.[35] However, their share is generally smaller than that to which men are entitled.[36] Daughters, for example, inherit half as much as sons.[37] Women are sometimes pressured into transferring their entire inheritance to their brothers or other male relatives.[38] Azzouni reports that some women have been killed when they have tried to assert their inheritance rights.[39] Christian women married to Muslim men cannot inherit from their husbands.[40]

Restricted Physical Integrity

As in many conflict-ridden areas, violence against women tends to be exacerbated across the territories. Palestinian women (and men) continuously face the risk of arbitrary arrests, harassment at checkpoints and verbal abuse. At present, there are no laws to protect women from domestic violence.[41] Prevalence is thought to be high, exacerbated by difficult living conditions and the stress of living under occupation.[42] A 2006 survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on domestic violence showed that 61.7% of married women indicated they had been psychologically abused by their husbands, 23.3% said they had been beaten, and 10.9% had experienced sexual violence.[43] Few incidents are reported, as victims face pressure from their families and wider society not to report abuse, for fear of bringing shame on the family.[44] Lack of economic independence and fear of social ostracism also leave women wishing to escape an abusive relationship with few options.[45] In addition, the police and judiciary tend to see domestic violence as a private matter, and are reluctant to intervene, and many Palestinians have little faith in the courts and law enforcement agencies anyway.[46] Three shelters for victims of domestic violence are in operation in the West Bank; there are none in Gaza.[47] Rape is illegal in the Palestinian Authority, but the law does not recognise spousal rape.[48] No legislation protects women from sexual harassment in the workplace.[49] So-called honour killings of women are also known to occur: according to Azzouni they have increased in prevalence in recent years.[50] Amnesty International reports that five such killings were recorded in 2009, although the actual prevalence may be much higher, as most ‘honour’ crimes go unreported.[51] Under both the Jordanian penal code (applicable in the West Bank) and the Egyptian penal code (applicable in Gaza), perpetrators of honour crimes are accorded lenient sentences.[52] There are some reports of women and girls who have been raped, being killed by relatives, in order to protect the family’s ‘honour’, and of Christian women being killed because they have married Muslim men.[53] A decree was issued in May 2011 putting an end to the leniency provided in the Penal Code for perpetrators of “honour” crimes.

There is no law in place preventing trafficking in persons.[54] The Palestinian Authority territories do not appear to be a source, transit or destination for trafficking in persons.[55] It is reported that female genital mutilation is practiced in Gaza, but there are no reports on the number of women affected.[56] Azzouni reports that women face social and familial pressure to give birth to a large number of children, making it difficult to make independent decisions regarding contraception.[57] According to UNFPA, 50% of women questioned reported using some form of contraception (including so-called ‘traditional’ methods).[58] The Israeli military blockade of Gaza, in place since 2007, has placed severe limits on access to healthcare in Gaza, including reproductive healthcare.[59] Abortion is only legal in cases where the pregnant woman’s life is in danger.[60]

Son Bias

According to UNFPA, under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls.[61] Gender-disaggregated data for immunisation rates is not available, but overall, immunisation levels are very high, according to UNICEF (99%).[62] Gross primary school enrolment rates are equal for boys and girls (93%), while at secondary level, girls’ enrolment rates (96%) are higher than boys (91%).[63] Female students also outnumber males in most colleges and universities, although Azzouni reports that this is because families who can afford to often choose to send their sons abroad to study.[64] The figures above would not indicate son preference in relation to early childhood care and access to education. The male/female sex ratio for the total population in Gaza Strip in 2012 is 1.04.[65] In the West Bank this ratio in the same year is also 1.04.Central Intelligence Agency (2012) The World Fact Book: Sex Ratio, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html, accessed 14 March 2012. There is no evidence to suggest that missing women is a problem in these territories.

Restricted Resources and Entitlements

Women have the legal right of access to land and access to property other than land, but female ownership is low because of social norms that limit women’s economic activity.[66] A Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) survey from 1999 indicated that only 5% of women owned (or shared ownership of) a piece of land, and less than 7.7% owned (or shared ownership of) property other than land.[67] However, reportedly it has become more common in recent years for women to rent or purchase houses or apartments on their own, particularly if they are divorced or widowed.[68] Israeli policies of forced eviction and land confiscation, as well as the 700km Separation Wall in the West Bank (which separates many Palestinians from their land), mean the land rights of all Palestinians, male and female, are consistently denied.[69] It also very difficult for Palestinians to obtain permits to build housing.[70] Women in the West Bank and Gaza have legal access to credit, and are free to dispose of their income independently. But as so few women own property or land, they lack the collateral needed to secure credit.[71] In addition, in reality, women often do not have control over their own income, and social norms that see the husband as the head of the family and responsible for all financial activities related to it hinder them from engaging in economic activity and concluding financial contracts.[72]

Restricted Civil Liberties

The specific status of the West Bank and Gaza limits freedom of movement for both women and men, as the Separation Wall and Israeli checkpoints) make it difficult for people to move between the different areas.[73] Permits are required for Palestinians who wish to work on the other side of the Separation Wall, and families prefer to put men forward to apply for such permits, limiting women’s employment opportunities as well as their freedom of movement.[74] Families may also restrict the movements of their daughters out of concern for the security situation.[75] However, women do face particular restrictions in that government officials often require women to provide written permission from their male guardian in order to apply for a passport, even though this is not legally required. [76] In addition, as shown by Azzouni’s study, Egyptian and Jordanian family laws applicable in the Palestinian territories contain provisions that can force a woman to return to the house of her husband, should she have left him against his will.[77]

Freedom of expression is restricted in the Palestinian National Authority, and Israel limits access of Israeli and foreign journalists into the Palestinian territories.[78] Most media outlets portray women in gender-stereotyped ways.[79] Freedom of assembly is also restricted by Israel within the Palestinian territories.[80] Freedom of association is not however restricted, and there are many active NGOs.[81]

Palestinian women and men have equal voting rights and the same right to stand for election.[82] Article 4 of the 2005 electoral law required each party list to include at least one woman among the first three names, at least one woman among the next four names, and at least one woman in every five names thereafter.[83] In 2006, 12.9% of those elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) were women.[84] However, overall there are few women in senior decision-making positions in the Palestinian National Authority.[85] In 2011, the first woman secretary general of a political party was elected. There are a large number of active women’s rights organisations in the Palestinian territories, campaigning on a range of issues, including pressing for changes to discriminatory legislation, the introduction of legislation covering domestic violence, and in support of women’s personal autonomy and security.[86] Discrimination in employment on the basis of gender is prohibited under the Palestinian Labour Law, and women are entitled to 10 weeks’ paid maternity leave.[87] There are no legal restrictions on women’s choice of careers, but women can face pressure from their families not to pursue certain careers.[88] Women are underrepresented in the labour force in the Palestinian territories.[89]

References

  1. ↑ Freedom House (2010) Freedom in the World Country Reports: Israeli-Occupied Territories, online edition, http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2010&country=7963 (accessed 6 March 2011); Azzouni, Suheir (2010) ‘Palestine – Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories’ in Sanja Kelly and Julia Breslin, eds., (2010) Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, New York, NY: Freedom House; Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p.360
  2. ↑ See http://data.worldbank.org/country
  3. ↑ World Council of Churches (2003) ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories: still home to Christians’, 24 June 2003, http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/feat-03-09.html (accessed 6 March 2011)
  4. ↑ Azzouni, Suheir (2010) ‘Palestine – Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories’ in Sanja Kelly and Julia Breslin, eds., (2010) Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, New York, NY: Freedom House; Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p.360
  5. ↑ United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) (2003) ‘INTEGRATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 2002/52 Addendum 1 International, regional and national developments in the area of violence against women 1994-2003’, E/CN.4/2003/75/Add.1, ECOSOC, New York , p.191
  6. ↑ Reference 5, p.362
  7. ↑ Reference 5, p.360
  8. ↑ Freedom House (2010) Freedom in the World Country Reports: Israeli-Occupied Territories, online edition, http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2010&country=7963 (accessed 6 March 2011); Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),p.104
  9. ↑ Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),pp.73, 104
  10. ↑ United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (2010) State Of The World’s Population 2010. From Conflict And Crisis To Renewal: Generations Of Change, UNFPA, New York , p.44
  11. ↑ Reference 5, p.362
  12. ↑ Reference 5, p.362
  13. ↑ Reference 5, p.366
  14. ↑ United Nations Development Programme (2011) Human Development Report 2011, available at http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Complete.pdf, accessed 29 February 2012, p.128
  15. ↑ Reference 15 p.140; World Economic Forum (2011) The Global Gender Gap Report 2011, available at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2011.pdf, accessed 2 March 2012.
  16. ↑ Reference 5, p.360
  17. ↑ Reference 5, p.360
  18. ↑ Reference 5, p.364
  19. ↑ Reference 5, p.369
  20. ↑ United Nations Population Division / DESA (2008) World Marriage Data. Available to download at http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WMD2008/Main.html (accessed 11 October 2010) ; Rashad, Hoda, Magued Osman, and Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi (2005), Marriage in the Arab World, PRB (Population Reference Bureau), Washington DC. Available at http://www.prb.org/pdf05/MarriageInArabWorld_Eng.pdf (accessed 3 March 2011), p.3
  21. ↑ Reference 5, p.369
  22. ↑ Reference 5, p.368
  23. ↑ Reference 5, p.369
  24. ↑ Emory University School of Law, Palestine/Palestinian Territories of West Bank and Gaza Strip, www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/palestine.htm (accessed 6 March 2011)
  25. ↑ Uhlman, K. (2004) ‘Overview of Shari’a and Prevalent Customs in Islamic Societies: Divorce and Child Custody’, Expert Law, http://www.expertlaw.com/library/family_law/islamic_custody.html (accessed 3 March 2011)
  26. ↑ Reference 26
  27. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  28. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  29. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  30. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  31. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  32. ↑ Reference 5, p.370
  33. ↑ Reference 5, p.363
  34. ↑ The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) (2005) ‘Islam, land & property research series’, Paper 6: Islamic inheritance laws and systems, Nairobi, Kenya. Available at www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/3546_3490_ILP%206.doc (accessed 10 February 2011), p.11
  35. ↑ REFERENCE 35, p.11
  36. ↑ REFERENCE 35, p.11
  37. ↑ REFERENCE 35, p.11
  38. ↑ Reference 5, p.374
  39. ↑ Reference 5, p.371
  40. ↑ Reference 5, p.369
  41. ↑ Reference 5, p.367
  42. ↑ Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),p.87
  43. ↑ Reference 5, p.371
  44. ↑ REFERENCE 6, p.190
  45. ↑ REFERENCE 6, p.190
  46. ↑ REFERENCE 6, p.190; Reference 5, p.365
  47. ↑ Reference 5, p.371
  48. ↑ US Department of State (2010) ‘2009 Country Reports on Human Rights: Israel and the Occupied Territories’, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/nea/136070.htm (accessed 6 March 2011)
  49. ↑ Reference 5, p.377
  50. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), p.256; Reference 5, p.365
  51. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), p.256; Reference 5, p.371
  52. ↑ Reference 5, p.365
  53. ↑ Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),p.93; Reference 5, p.369
  54. ↑ Reference 49
  55. ↑ Reference 49
  56. ↑ UNICEF (2005) ‘Changing a harmful social convention: female genital mutilation/cutting’, Innocenti Digest, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, UNICEF, Florence , p.3
  57. ↑ Reference 5, p.383
  58. ↑ Reference 11, p.97
  59. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), p.254; Reference 11, pp.71-73
  60. ↑ Reference 5, p.383
  61. ↑ Reference 11, p.103
  62. ↑ UNICEF (2007) State of the World’s Children : the Double Dividend of Gender Equality, New York: UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf, p.112
  63. ↑ Reference 63, p.120
  64. ↑ Reference 5, p.374
  65. ↑ Central Intelligence Agency (2012) The World Fact Book: Sex Ratio, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2018.html, accessed 14 March 2012.
  66. ↑ Reference 5, p.371
  67. ↑ Quoted in Reference 5, p.373
  68. ↑ Reference 5, p.384
  69. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), p.184; Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),pp.15, 97
  70. ↑ Housing and Land Rights Network / HABITAT INTERNATIONAL COALITION, UNITED NATIONS Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004),p.87
  71. ↑ Reference 5, p.373
  72. ↑ Reference 5, p.373
  73. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), p.182; Freedom House (2010) Freedom in the World Country Reports: Israeli-Occupied Territories, online edition, http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2010&country=7963 (accessed 6 March 2011)
  74. ↑ Reference 5, p.368
  75. ↑ Reference 5, p.372
  76. ↑ Reference 5, p.367
  77. ↑ Reference 5, p.367
  78. ↑ Amnesty International (2010) Amnesty International Report 2009, State of the World’s Human Rights, London: Amnesty International. http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_EN.pdf (accessed 8 November 2010), pp.255-256
  79. ↑ Reference 5, p.385
  80. ↑ Freedom House (2010) Freedom in the World Country Reports: Israeli-Occupied Territories, online edition, http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2010&country=7963 (accessed 6 March 2011)
  81. ↑ Reference 81
  82. ↑ Reference 5, p.378
  83. ↑ Reference 5, p.378
  84. ↑ Reference 5, p.366
  85. ↑ Reference 5, p.378
  86. ↑ Reference 5, pp.366, 371, 381
  87. ↑ Reference 5, p.376
  88. ↑ Reference 5, p.374
  89. ↑ Reference 81


The Women, Business and the Law

Where are laws equal for men and women?  

The Women, Business and the Law report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. This report does not seek to judge or rank countries, but to provide information to inform discussions about women’s economic rights. Women, Business and the Law provides data covering 6 areas: accessing institutions,using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit, and going to court.Read more about the methodology.

For detailed information on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, please visit the Women, Business and
the Law West Bank and Gaza page.

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