UN Women, a United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment, called the war in Gaza “also a war against women.”
In a statement on Friday, the organization estimated that 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 attack.
“As the war in Gaza approaches its five-month mark, the women of Gaza continue to suffer its devastating impact,” the statement said. “While this war spares no one, UN Women data shows it kills and hurts women in unprecedented ways.”
UN Women reported that an average of 63 women are killed each day in Gaza, with approximately 37 mothers killed daily, “leaving their families devastated and their children with diminished protection.”
“More than 4 in 5 women (84 percent) report that their family eats half or less of the food they used to eat before the war started, and that mothers and adult women are responsible for getting food, but they eat last, least, and less than everyone else,” the statement added.
UN Women also noted that 87% of women in Gaza have more difficulty accessing food than men.
“Some women are now resorting to extreme coping mechanisms, such as searching for food in rubble or in garbage bins,” UN Women said.
They called for immediate humanitarian aid to reach Gaza and for an end to “the killings, bombings and destruction of essential infrastructure in Gaza.”
“Unless there is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, many more will die in the coming days and weeks,” UN Women said.
