Australian women leaders and peace activists have written an open statement on the disproportionate affect the conflict in Gaza is having on women and children.
Nearly 80 women signed the letter, calling on the Australian government to do more in its response to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.
The letter was released on October 31, the 23rd anniversary of the watershed United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution highlighted how armed conflict impacts women and girls to a larger extent, yet are often excluded from peace processes.
“We, the undersigned women leaders and peace activists use this anniversary to express our deep concern over the backsliding of the WPS agenda globally, as the number of women and girls living in conflict affected areas continues to rise and women remain excluded from formal peace building processes,” the statement read.
The statement was commissioned by the Australian Civil Society Coalition on Women, Peace and Security and was signed by 77 women leaders in Australia, including Dr Jacqui True, professor of International Relations at Monash University.
“The reality of the situation in Israel and Palestine is confronting,” Dr True said.
“Women attacked, tortured and paraded in public. More children killed than in all the world’s conflict since 2019. Infants as hostages. Caesarean sections carried out without anaesthetics. Babies delivered from their dead mothers.
“75% of the injured and killed in this conflict so far are women and children. By sheer numbers Gaza’s women face the harshest impacts of this war.”
Former Labor Senators Claire Moore and Margaret Reynolds also joined the statement, calling on “our nation and our world” to “respond to the current humanitarian crisis” and make real commitments towards building peace in the region.
The open letter demanded the Australian government to not send military assistance, including troops and arms, to Gaza, given the nation’s long standing relationship with Israel.
Virginia Haussegger AM, a high-profile Australian journalist, said the crisis urgently needs more women leaders responding to the situation.
“At the very time we mark the 23rd anniversary of the UN Security Resolution 1325 which committed all member states to a Women, Peace and Security agenda, the fully male led killing machines on both sides of this horrific war make a mockery of our collective WPS commitments,” Haussegger said.
“Until the world stands up and says, ‘Enough is Enough’, women and children will continue to be ‘collateral damage’ and death fodder of inflamed male egos that are incapable of any solution beyond violent annihilation.
“I desperately hope that we, as a global community, are better than that.”
You can read the full statement and view the signatories to the statement here.
‘A dire reality’
The Minister of Palestinian Women’s Affairs Dr Amal Hamad also released a statement on the anniversary of the UNSCR 1325.
The statement condemned the international community’s inaction that has left women in Gaza extremely vulnerable.
“Young girls, full of innocence, have had their childhoods stolen as they either witness the horrors of war leaving them with scarred and traumatised futures, or are targeted and slaughtered, robbing them of their childhood,” Dr Hamad wrote in her statement.
“Tragically, more than 50,000 expectant mothers in Gaza, whose hearts should be filled with the anticipation of new life and the promise of a joyful future, face a dire reality.
“These women are denied access to essential maternal healthcare, and over 5,000 of them must endure childbirth in perilous conditions. Within the next month due to the destruction of hospitals, medical equipment and the infrastructure necessary for safe deliveries.”
The Ministry of Palestinian Women’s Affairs calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Yesterday, UN Women released data that indicated close to 493,000 women and girls have been displaced from their homes in Gaza.
#Gaza spent the night in darkness and fear.
— UN Women (@UN_Women) October 28, 2023
The collapse of the humanitarian system is imminent.
We continue to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and humanitarian access to food, water, medicine and fuel.
We also call for the unconditional release of all hostages. pic.twitter.com/H12CQHecfV
Around 668,000 women and girls are in need of protection from gender-based violence, as identified by the 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).
And a surge of widows has emerged from the violence as 1,487 men have been killed. This has produced close to 900 new households headed by women and 3,103 children who’ve lost their fathers.
UN Women also call for a humanitarian ceasefire, the release of hostages and humanitarian access.