l Forty-seventh session 21 Juneā9 July 2021 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development...
Written statement* submitted by United Nations Watch, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [30 May 2021]
United Nations Watch is concerned about the prevalence of violence against women in the territories under Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas control and the perpetuation of a false narrative that somehow blames Israel. Violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is widespread. The PA has even broadcast TV programs encouraging wife-beating.1 The 2016 report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted that Palestinian women āsuffer under a system of violence emanating from the tradition and culture, with embedded patriarchal social norms and multiple outdated legal frameworks,ā2 and expressed specific concern about honor killings, domestic violence and sexual violence.3 In its 2018 concluding observations on the State of Palestine, the UN Committee which monitors the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern about āthe high prevalence of gender-based violence against women, in particular so-called āhonor killingsā and domestic and sexual violence, which remain socially accepted and underreported due to the stigma suffered by victims.ā4 Notably, while the PA acceded to CEDAW in 2014, at least two Palestinian government entitiesāthe Supreme Fatwa Council and the Supreme Commission of Tribal Affairsā oppose compliance with CEDAW.5
The issue of honor killings made headlines in 2019 when Israa Ghrayeb, a 21-year-old woman, was pushed out of a window and then beaten to death in the hospital by family members who were incensed by a photo she had had shared on Instagram of herself with a man.
Written statement* submitted by United Nations Watch, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31. [30 May 2021]
United Nations Watch is concerned about the prevalence of violence against women in the territories under Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas control and the perpetuation of a false narrative that somehow blames Israel. Violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is widespread. The PA has even broadcast TV programs encouraging wife-beating.1 The 2016 report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted that Palestinian women āsuffer under a system of violence emanating from the tradition and culture, with embedded patriarchal social norms and multiple outdated legal frameworks,ā2 and expressed specific concern about honor killings, domestic violence and sexual violence.3 In its 2018 concluding observations on the State of Palestine, the UN Committee which monitors the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern about āthe high prevalence of gender-based violence against women, in particular so-called āhonor killingsā and domestic and sexual violence, which remain socially accepted and underreported due to the stigma suffered by victims.ā4 Notably, while the PA acceded to CEDAW in 2014, at least two Palestinian government entitiesāthe Supreme Fatwa Council and the Supreme Commission of Tribal Affairsā oppose compliance with CEDAW.5
The issue of honor killings made headlines in 2019 when Israa Ghrayeb, a 21-year-old woman, was pushed out of a window and then beaten to death in the hospital by family members who were incensed by a photo she had had shared on Instagram of herself with a man.
