Period Poverty in Palestine

Bianca Orfila-Molinet

Introduction

October 7th, 2023, marked a turning point in the Middle Eastern conflict between Israel and Palestine. Militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, an ambush that led to the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the taking of 250 hostages. The Israel-Hamas War, or the War on Gaza, continues to progress in severity as the second anniversary of the October 7th attacks approaches. However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not start on October 7th.

Background of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Reports of historic conflict between Israel and Palestine illustrate the violence’s true longevity. The United Nations’ 1947 initial UN Partition Plan proposed partitioning Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian-Arab and the other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized. In 1948, the creation of the State of Israel sparked the first Arab-Israeli War. The 1973 Yom Kippur War, a six-day war that involved Israel, Egypt, and Syria, led to Israel’s control of more territory than the state had previously held. The 1979 Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, and the 2020 Abraham Accords were all attempts by states to manage the conflict, but all failed. 

Despite the numerous attempts made by Israel and Palestine, as well as third parties like the United States, conflict persists in the region with no end in sight. Today, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the force that controls the West Bank and Gaza, delegating power to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Officially, the State of Israel controls part of Palestine’s Area B, a West Bank area of villages and rural areas, and Area C, pastoral areas of the West Bank. However, after October 2023, Israel launched extensive military control in the Gaza Strip, Area A, where the Palestinian Authority governs. 

The region’s deep conflict-prone history, combined with the ambush on October 7th, led to one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters in modern history. On March 2nd, 2025, Israel cut off all aid from the Gaza Strip, two weeks before the end of a temporary ceasefire. Israel has since invoked a temporary lift on this blockade after concerns of a humanitarian crisis spread on the global stage. Despite this lift, the death toll from the conflict continues to rise. A reported 1,200 Israeli people died in October 2023, 800 of whom were classified as citizens. On the other hand, the death toll in Gaza has risen to 64,000 Palestinians, at least half of whom are women and children.

The Israeli Forces' control of the Gaza Strip and the aid blockade create the circumstances needed for widespread starvation. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform, dedicated to enhancing food security and nutrition analysis, has warned that plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition, two out of three famine thresholds, have been reached in Gaza. The third threshold, deaths from malnutrition, has yet to be reached, likely due to underreporting on the issue. As the conflict continues, international concern surrounding the living conditions in Gaza grows exponentially. 

Women and girls are uniquely affected by this conflict. According to the UN, an estimated 10,000 women have died as a result of the conflict, and those who have survived have been displaced, widowed, and face starvation. However, as the violence and starvation continue, so does the decrease in access to hygienic products in Gaza. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) states that “just one in ten people have direct access to safe water in the Gaza Strip.” Continuous destruction of infrastructure and weak resource management have led to unsanitary conditions for Palestinians everywhere. For women and girls, this means facing a specific issue with sanitation in Gaza–period poverty.

Period Poverty

Period poverty, as defined by the UN, “refers to the inability to afford and access menstrual products, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and education and awareness to manage menstrual health.” Causes of period poverty differ around the world, as does severity, but the main contributors are stigma, the high cost of menstrual products, and lack of water and sanitation facilities. Cultural and political factors can also worsen women and girls’ preparedness and access to menstrual education. 

A “pink tax” has been observed in states worldwide, a term referring to additional taxes placed on women’s products. For instance, in the United Arab Emirates, women report paying more for goods than men do, despite overwhelming similarities in products. Women and girls even face “value-added” taxes on menstrual products, further escalating the inaccessibility of menstrual health items. Stigmas surrounding menstrual cycles perpetuate period poverty. Taboos, myths, stereotypes, and more can discourage women from accessing or speaking out about menstrual products. In conflict, women are even less likely to be able to access adequate menstrual health products, leading to a cycle of unsanitary conditions and health crises. The UN reports that 614 million women and girls are living in conflict-affected areas. Moreover, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that the number of women and girls fleeing from conflict rises yearly, with women and girls accounting for 51% of refugees in 2023. Despite this, states do not prioritize menstrual health during a time of crisis, according to the UN. 

Period Hygiene in Gaza

The UN observes a severe lack of menstrual products since the conflict in Gaza escalated in October 2023. However, the shortage does not end with sanitary products. An ongoing lack of water, pads, toilet paper, soap, and sanitary products all contribute to disastrous health conditions in Gaza, worsening the already dire situation women and girls are facing. Nearly 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, and fuel for water pumping is no longer available, the UN reports. Access to clean water is crucial in women’s menstrual health, as a lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities can increase the risk of infection.

Since March, Israel’s blocking of aid has depleted hygiene supplies in Gaza, including menstrual pads. In the recent UN Women's Report from the Gaza Strip, over 540,000 women and girls lack access to items to support their hygiene, health, and dignity. Despite an estimate by the United Nations Programme for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) that Gazan citizens need 10 million disposable menstrual pads each month to sustain menstrual health and dignity in Gaza, the available number of menstrual products is far less. Thus, women and girls resort to using cloth or sponges because they cannot access menstrual products. Due to the severe restrictions imposed on sanitary products by authorities in Gaza—$2.5 million worth of goods were rejected, most of which are hygiene items. Women and girls resort to the aforementioned alternatives and more, such as scraps of tents, which increase the risk of serious infections. Women and girls have even resorted to taking menstruation-delaying pills (norethisterone tablets) to avoid having their period every month. Side effects of these pills include nausea, migraines, skin reactions, sudden chest pain, and more.

Furthermore, stigma and taboo are crucial contributors to period poverty in Palestine. In a study on menstrual preparedness for adolescent girls living in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Jordan, it was found that girls raised in a culture of social shame surrounding periods were less prepared for their menstruation. A term encompassing shame and secrecy, “‘aib عيب’”, followed girls as they dealt with the embarrassment of menarche, or the onset of a girl’s menstrual cycle. In situations of conflict and in unfamiliar environments, such as refugee camps, taboos surrounding menstruation in their culture more directly impact women and girls, perpetuating the cycle of period poverty.

A young girl who spoke to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, said: “I only had one pad, so I wrapped it in toilet paper to make it last. I couldn’t wash, and the pain was horrible. I sat in silence crying until the end of the day.” As the conflict continues, so too will the scarcity of menstrual products, resulting in a dire situation for women's and girls’ health in Gaza.

Conclusion

The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen. An overlooked portion of the humanitarian crisis, however, is period poverty for women and girls in Gaza. Humanitarian efforts have been made to alleviate the problem by organizations like UNFPA, which has provided more than 300,000 women and girls with two-month supplies of disposable menstrual pads and distributed postpartum kits to over 12,000 new mothers since October 2023. However, three months into a total aid blockade by the Israeli military forces, UNFPA’s stocks were nearly exhausted. With borders on lockdown, clean water and hygiene kits are no longer able to reach those in need, creating a sanitation crisis that impacts Gazans’ ability to drink water, sanitize, or manage menstruation. As the situation in Gaza worsens, international actors are encouraged by the UN to assist efforts to administer aid to the strip, emphasizing the importance of helping women and girls in the conflict. Therefore, the burden of inaccessibility to period products is clear. A girl in Gaza laments, “Every time my period comes, I wish I weren’t a girl.”