Palestinian Women Research Articles

Prevalence, genotyping and phylogenetic analysis of HPV infecting Palestinian women.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a significant global public health concern due to its association with cervical, other anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and the phylogenetic relationships of HPV among Palestinian in order to inform public health strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2023 and April 2024 involving 379 Palestinian women over the age of 18 from 11 governorates in the West Bank. Cervical swabs were collected and analyzed using nested PCR and Sanger sequencing methods to detect and genotype HPV. The study also included phylogenetic analysis to understand the genetic relationships between HPV strains. The overall HPV prevalence was 14.5%. The highest prevalence was observed in the 20-29 age group (19.6%), the Middle region of the West Bank (19.0%), and lower educational attainment. Genotyping revealed a diverse distribution of HPV types, with HPV 11 and HPV 6 being the most common low-risk types, while HPV 16 was the most common high-risk type. About 21.8% of the detected strains were high-risk strains. Phylogenetic analysis indicated significant regional clustering of HPV strains. The study highlights the need for targeted public health interventions, including vaccination and regular screening, particularly for younger women and those with lower educational attainment. Continued surveillance and research are essential to reduce the burden of HPV-related diseases in the West Bank, Palestine.

“Canada remains deeply concerned”: (de)politicized feminist foreign aid, settler colonialism and reproductive justice in occupied Gaza

ABSTRACT Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) was introduced in June 2017, representing a positive shift in Canadian foreign policy and a reaffirmation of the Trudeau government’s intended global leadership on gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Since its inception, FIAP has faced growing criticism as a neoliberal, individualized approach to achieving gender equality that is void of an understanding of underlying systemic inequities. This paper applies this critique to Canada’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing military violence in Gaza. Adopting a reproductive justice framework, we argue that the reproductive violence against Palestinian women enacted during the current war on Gaza must be understood as part of Israel’s larger settler colonial project. For Canada to fulfill its commitments to global SRHR as set out in its own foreign policy framework, the Trudeau government must adopt a more politicized and intersectional approach to feminist international assistance, including taking political action against Israel’s colonial violence in Gaza.

Factors Associated with Supportive Care Needs Among Palestinian Women with Breast Cancer in the West Bank: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women in Palestine, where the need for supportive care frequently goes unmet. Therefore, this study aims to assess the supportive care services provided at the governmental hospitals in the southern area of the West Bank and to determine the factors associated with the unmet needs of these services. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 362 women with BC. Data were collected using a face-to-face questionnaire that included the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34), patients' sociodemographic, economic, and clinical characteristics, as well as familial history of cancer and social support. Results: The study revealed that 61% of participants had unmet supportive care needs, with health system information, physical support, and psychological support being the most unmet needs. Factors contributing to unmet needs included age, marital status, familial support, and a family history of cancer. Chemotherapy and surgery increased the probability of physical care needs by fivefold, while hormone therapy reduced the probability of psychological needs (AOR = 0.36, p < 0.001) and patient care and support needs (AOR = 0.49, p = 0.01). Additionally, radiotherapy reduced sexual care needs by 58% and biological therapy by 60%. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for enhanced supportive care services for BC patients in the West Bank, especially regarding health system information, physical care, and psychological support. Addressing these needs through targeted interventions could significantly improve patients' quality of life.

Gender, Human Rights Networks, and the State of Emergency During the Arab Revolt (1936–1939)

Abstract Contrary to the current literature on the British state of emergency during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt, that sees women as victims of counterinsurgency policies or the differential objects within national-military cultures, this article argues that Palestinian women played an active role in fostering the rise of early human rights networks, and highlights how the politics of race and gender-based violence marked an embedded dimension of the imperial and colonial political authority and practice. By focusing on the emotional and divisive question of Palestine during the Arab Revolt, and using gender as a polyhedric tool of analysis, the article aims to show the centrality of gender and women’s activism in forging and grasping technologies of colonial emergency governance as tools of resistance to colonial violence. It enriches current histories of international law and adopts a critical feminist intersectional approach.

Assessing the factors associated with body image perception and quality of life of Palestinian women undergoing breast cancer treatment: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWorldwide, breast cancer has replaced lung cancer and has become the most commonly diagnosed malignancy. Breast cancer poses a significant burden on the health and quality of life of women and can lead to substantial physical burdens and significant psychological problems, including distress, anxiety, depression, and sexuality-related issues, including negative body image. This study was conducted to assess how women diagnosed with, treated, and/or receiving treatment for breast cancer perceived their body image.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was used to assess body image perceptions among Palestinian women diagnosed with breast cancer. The study was conducted in four different hospitals located in the West Bank of Palestine where women with breast cancer received their treatments or visited for follow-up care in the period between November 2023 and March 2024. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Body perception was assessed using the body image self-rating questionnaire for breast cancer (BISQ-BC).ResultsIn this study, 376 women with breast cancer completed the interviewer-administered questionnaire (response rate = 75.2%. The mean age of the women was 44.0 ± 5.3 years. Of the women, 74.7% agreed or strongly agreed that they cared about their body image. On the other hand, 43.1% of the women were not satisfied with their body image and 58.8% did not think that their body image was attractive. Multiple linear regression showed that younger age, employment status, living in cities, marital status, educational level, presence of comorbidities, and longer time passes since diagnosis with breast cancer were associated with the different aspects of body image perception and behavior.ConclusionThe findings of this study indicated that Palestinian women with breast cancer were concerned about their body image. The findings also indicated that breast cancer and its treatment posed a significant burden on the physical and psychosocial well-being of the affected women and impacted the different dimensions of their lives, including their perceptions of their body image. Patients with significant physical and body image changes might benefit from reconstructive surgeries, psychosocial support, cognitive behavioral therapy, and nutritional, and physical activity interventions.

Bringing Soil, Breaking Bread: Archival Praxis in Visual Storytelling of Palestine in Exile

This article examines themes of archival praxis, visual storytelling, and care through an analysis of two Palestinian short films. Drawing on Edward Said’s concept of the contrapuntal, the authors argue that visual storytelling in Something from There by Rana Nazzal Hamadeh and Brown Bread & Apricots by Serene Husni establishes an archival praxis that utilizes narratives and objects, functioning as a portal connecting temporalities and geographical spaces between Palestine and exile. The authors explore the archival landscape that forms the fabric of Palestinian life in the two films—stories, soil, al-muneh (the pantry), photographs, and documents—arguing that the films speak to the gendered dimensions of archival care, wherein Palestinian women emerge as custodians of memory and storykeeping. By applying strategies of abundance and relationality, the authors posit that the filmmakers foreground family histories, contributing to a deeper understanding of an embodied archive.

Against the depoliticisation of Palestinian female shahids

Palestinian women’s engagement with politics and their appropriation of conventionally masculine acts of martyrdom during the Second Intifada (2002–2005) have been subject to intense public debate, media scrutiny and contested cultural representations. This article, drawing on studies of terrorism as well as translation theory, examines first-hand accounts of acts of martyrdom by Palestinian women, which uphold Palestinian national and religious discourses of sacrifice. Failing to grapple with how and why Palestinians recognise these women’s acts as martyrdom, many Euro-American and Israeli scholars focus on personal, social and psychological motivations. While many Euro-American and Israeli scholars construct Palestinian female martyrs as socially deviant, we develop a different framework to understand female martyrdom on more local terms that resonate with Palestinians’ lived experience. We introduce five Palestinian female martyrs’ video testimonies that scholarship to date has overlooked. We contend that Palestinian female martyrs (shahids) are conscious agents whose final acts underscore their adherence to religious and national discourses of sacrifice.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Postpartum Depression in Palestinian Women in the Hebron Governorate, Palestine

Background Despite the increased interest from researchers in Postpartum depression (PPD) globally, related studies are limited in Palestine and do not provide a comprehensive understanding of PPD. Objective We examined the factors that determine post-partum depression among Palestinian mothers in Hebron governorate. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 122 governmental primary healthcare clinics in Hebron Governorate. A convenient sampling method was used to collect data from 435 using a self-administered questionnaire using the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale. Results The mean EPDS scale score was 10.56 (SD 5.273), and 36.1% had a score of ≥13, indicating moderate-to-severe depression symptoms. The study results revealed that psychosocial factors were significantly associated with PPDS and play a crucial role in the development of PPD, such as the history of depression, being exposed to domestic violence before and during pregnancy, poor husband support, unplanned pregnancy, fear of infant’s gender, and in addition to anemia than other factors. Conclusion A high prevalence of PPD was found among Palestinian women in this study. The study proposes screening women for trauma or domestic violence and assessing their social support, inquiring about pregnancy intention, and discussing family planning. Delivering iron supplements to pregnant or postpartum anemic women is important. Women who have a history of depression, domestic abuse, or lack social support should receive psychological and medical treatment. Mental health services must be included in the after-birth care protocol to train primary health clinic staff to recognize and treat PPD.

Prevalence of stress urinary incontinence symptoms and their impact on the quality of life of Palestinian women: the first large cross-sectional study among the general population

BackgroundLittle studies were conducted to assess the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence among Palestinian women. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence symptoms, their impact on the quality of life, and the risk factors that were associated with stress incontinence symptoms among Palestinian women.MethodsThis study was conducted in a cross-sectional design from 2023 to 2024. The data were collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire collected the demographic and health characteristics of the women. Additionally, the questionnaire also contained the PRAFAB questionnaire (PRAFAB-Q). Moreover, the questionnaire included the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL)-8D scale.ResultsData were collected from 386 Palestinian women (response rate = 85.8%). The mean age of women in this study was 37.1 ± 14.7 years. In this study, 104 (26.9%) reported stress urinary incontinence symptoms. Of the women, 102 (26.4%) reported urinary leakage during coughing, 100 (25.9%) reported urinary leakage during sneezing, and 94 (24.4%) reported urinary leakage during laughing. The women who had a family history of stress incontinence were 2.5-fold (95% CI: 1.2–5.2) more likely to have stress incontinence symptoms compared to the women who did not have a family history of stress incontinence. Similarly, the women who were overweight/obese were 2.0-fold (95% CI: 1.1–3.7) more likely to have stress incontinence symptoms compared to the women who were underweight or had a normal weight. PRAFAB-Q scores were predicted by place of residence, family history of stress incontinence, and being recruited from a hospital.ConclusionThe study reported a high prevalence of stress urinary incontinence and identified the risk factors that were associated with stress incontinence symptoms among Palestinian women. The findings showed that the intensity of stress urinary incontinence symptoms was associated with deteriorated quality of life of the affected women. These findings could be used by urologists, gynecologists, obstetricians, and other healthcare providers caring for women to design ways to reduce the burden of stress urinary incontinence among Palestinian women and improve their quality of life.

The Fellaha/Laji’a Double Consciousness of Nakba Generation Palestinian Women

Despite colonial constraints and their triple alienation as refugees, Palestinian Nakba-generation women rely on their memories of place to construct their subjectivity. By practicing the methodology of ground-truthing narratives among eight Shu’fat refugee Nakba generation women, this article draws mainly on Du Bois’s conceptualization of double consciousness to map the temporality of Palestinian women journey in three stages. First, it shows how memories of place are re-arranged based on new events, a process of constructing double consciousness via Othering. Second, they re-define the now space of the refugee camp, while the physical and cultural landscapes of their pre-Nakba homeland are frozen in time, if not completely absent. Third, they conjoin two separate modes of spatial expressions, the pre-Nakba peasant (fellahat) and the post-Nakba refugee status (laji’at), in an overarching narrative filled with dogged strength as an outcome of a second sight. Overall, such a journey is a collective creation of memory, place, and culture that contributes to indigenous knowledge. By exploring how Palestinian Nakba-generation refugee women experienced Zionist colonization and constructed their subjectivity across time and space, the article traces their ontological resistance in the process of conjoining their double-consciousness, as both peasants and refugees.

Precarious employment as a central axis of emerging adulthood among young working-class Palestinian women in Israel

ABSTRACT This study presents findings from qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) conducted among young working-class Palestinian women citizens of Israel who were interviewed as high school students working in precarious employment and again five years later as they entered emerging adulthood. The study examined precarious employment during high school as a central axis that shapes the features of emerging adulthood over time among young working-class Palestinian women, within the dynamic between culture (traditional expectations) and education (self-realization). QLR makes it possible to examine the structures of barriers and resources at the intersection of gender, class, and ethnonationality over time. Employing the theoretical frameworks of vulnerability and precarity reveals that the features of emerging adulthood are anchored in economic, political, and cultural structures. Reliance on precarious employment and exploitative work environments during adolescence has far-reaching consequences throughout emerging adulthood. Young women are in a state of perpetual responsibility, doubly tasked with escaping poverty and pursuing higher education.

Socioeconomic and Demographic Determinants of Marital Violence Against Women in Palestine

Socioeconomic and Demographic Determinants of Marital Violence Against Women in Palestine

The Impact of Social Media on the Involvement of Palestinian Arab Women in the Labor Market in the State of Israel

The current article aims to shed light on the impact of social networking sites on Palestinian women in the State of Israel. It began researching the extent of women's involvement in work, the consequences of women's work, and the obstacles they face in the labor market. Then it highlighted the impact that social media has had on the labor market in general, and then the effects of social media on women’s work in particular. Finally, it highlights the impact of social media on the work of Palestinian women in Israel, and how these sites helped them gain income and self-realization in addition to education and awareness, all from within their homes.

The human rights archival gap: ethno-archiving the silencing of radical activism and Israel’s violence against Palestinian women

ABSTRACT This article tells the story of one of the first Israeli anti-occupation groups, Women for Political Prisoners (WOFPP), through an ethnography that follows the process of re-assembling the NGO’s scattered archive. The concept of ethno-archiving is used to describe the process of gathering oral histories and assembling documents from the groups’ emergence phase (1988–1993). Focusing on the organisation’s historical importance and its idiosyncratic documentation of Israel’s gender-based violence (GBV) against Palestinian women, including sexual violence, the article chronicles their emergence and early impact, and explains why they were gradually forgotten – partly due to their own strategy of stealth-ness and self-silencing, and partly due to their marginalisation by mainstream liberal activism and NGO professionalism. The article shows that the human rights archival gap of Women for Political Prisoners’ unique materials, as the first NGO to define Israeli practices as torture and the only one to focus on Palestinian women, is inextricably tied to the overall silencing of GBV in Israel/Palestine.

Comparison of premenstrual symptoms, psychological well-being, and nutritional status between Palestinian women with and without polycystic ovarian syndrome: a case-control study

BackgroundPolycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a widely seen reproductive and endocrinological disorder. PCOS can exert substantial effects on many aspects of an individual’s life, including reproductive health and psychological well-being. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status, premenstrual syndrome, and mental health of women affected by PCOS in comparison to women without PCOS.MethodologyA case-control observational study in Palestine included 100 PCOS patients and 200 healthy women. The collected data included socio-demographic information, medical history, premenstrual syndrome, mental health, nutritional status, and lifestyle. Anthropometric measurement and the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) were used to evaluate the nutritional status. The General Health Questionnaire (12-GHQ) was used to evaluate the state of mental health. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) severity was evaluated using a validated Arabic premenstrual syndrome questionnaire.ResultsThe study’s findings indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in the three dimensions of PMS among participants with PCOS, p < 0.05. Similarly, PCOS patients demonstrated elevated ratings across all aspects of mental health, p < 0.05. In terms of the other variables, it has been observed that PCOS patients have a notably greater prevalence of perceived sleep disturbances and decreased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Regression analysis revealed that PCOS is associated with mental health problems indicated by a higher GHQ score (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.03; 1.16, p < 0.05), lower adherence to the MD diet (OR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.76; 0.98, p < 0.05), and pre-menstrual syndrome, especially the physical symptoms (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.003; 1.12, p < 0.05) after adjusting for age, smoking, waist-hip ratio, and body mass index (BMI).ConclusionThe study has linked polycystic ovary syndrome to negative mental health outcomes and an increased severity of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Additional investigation is required in order to establish a causal association between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and lifestyle behaviors within the Palestinian population. Intervention and instructional studies are necessary to investigate the efficacy of management strategies in alleviating the effects of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on both physical and mental well-being.

Menopausal Symptoms and Quality of Life among Palestinian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Menopausal Symptoms and Quality of Life among Palestinian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Everyday lived experience and ‘carescape’ of women street vendors: Spatial Justice in Al-Hisba Marketplace, Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine

The city’s local markets are essential for daily shopping and nurture traditions, spatial practices, and heritage. This study investigates the everyday lived experiences of Palestinian women street vendors operating in the Al-Hisba marketplace, located in the center of Ramallah/Al-Bireh. It investigates the challenges they encountered in the evolving Al-Hisba, against the backdrop of male dominance and the impediments imposed by the Israeli occupation. Within this context, they struggle to survive and to cope with transformative shifts in marketing trends. These challenges offer glimpses of resilience and opportunities to adapt to emerging informalities, the essential practices of spatial making-do, and a growing network of “carescape.” Employing a qualitative approach and actor-network theory, this study draws on the narratives of women street vendors to unravel their tactics of resilience, the dynamics of their carescape network, and the adaptive practices they employ to sustain their presence in Al-Hisba. The findings illuminate the negotiated spatial opportunities of adaptation in the face of uncertainties within Al-Hisba marketplace. This study also contributes to the realm of cultural studies and human behavior, offering insights that inform urban epistemologies. It underscores the importance of local markets in anchoring cities to principles of spatial equity and sense of place.

Palestinian Women Writers in English: Compromising National and Feminist Agendas

The article analyses the intersection of Palestinian nationalism and feminism as represented in literary and political discourse. Through an examination of well-established historical discourses surrounding the Palestinian situation, this study reframes the notion that feminist political projects and nationalism are incompatible. By utilizing the framework of postcolonial feminism, this analysis scrutinizes the depiction of Palestinian women in narratives of national struggle as agents, symbols, and authors. Employing historical analysis and literary criticism as sources of data, this article investigates the development of Palestinian women's activism from the early 20th century to the present. It underscores the impact that women had on the Palestinian literary canon, their contributions to the national movement, and the emergence of indigenous feminisms. Notwithstanding the comparatively masculine conception of nationalist agency that permeates Palestinian nationalism, this qualitative study investigates the ways in which national struggle stimulated the advancement of Palestinian women. This encompasses discussions concerning gender awareness and the methods through which women defied cultural and societal norms through active participation in the national struggle and substantial literary contributions. This study is of significant value as it critically examines the complex relationship between feminism and nationalism in the Palestinian context, while also challenging the assumptions made by Western feminism. Through an examination of the experiences and perspectives of Palestinian women, this study underscores the ways in which the concurrent reinforcement of nationalist sentiments and reclamation of feminist narratives empower Palestinian women and bolster support for the Palestinian cause, thus making a significant contribution to the nation's pursuit of independence.

Transformative incrementalism: Palestinian women’s strategies of resistance and resilience amid gendered insecurity and neoliberal co-optation

Palestinian women have envisioned and enacted resistance and resilience in different ways throughout the long-running Palestinian resistance movement. Strategies have ranged from direct collective actions to the resolute maintenance of everyday life in the face of ongoing occupation, settler-colonialism, displacement and violence. Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank have begun to develop tactics that attempt to negotiate a widespread aversion to ‘illegitimate’ and aid donor-prescribed actions, as well as to the gendered risks with which politically active women must contend. While this approach once encompassed the principle of resilience, recent times have seen the growing rejection of neoliberal resilience narratives in the belief that they normalize and entrench an oppressive status quo. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the West Bank, this article explores how women’s search for legitimate and feasible modes of resistance and resilience has generated tactics characterized by incrementalism, but which form part of a transformative social change strategy. In so doing, it reveals the dynamic ways in which women constantly renegotiate resistance to violence in Palestine. It also demonstrates how development models based upon neoliberal understandings of resilience exacerbate gendered impacts of insecurity while eroding women’s capacities to withstand them.

Common misconceptions and myths about ovarian cancer causation: a national cross-sectional study from palestine

BackgroundWomen’s inability to recognize ovarian cancer (OC) causation myths to be incorrect may lead to behavioral changes that could distract them from actual risk factors and impact their treatment decision making. This study examined Palestinian women’s recognition of OC mythical causes, and explored factors associated with good recognition.MethodsA national cross-sectional study was conducted. Adult Palestinian women were recruited from hospitals, primary healthcare facilities, and public areas in 11 governorates. The Cancer Awareness Measure-Mythical Causes Scale was modified and utilized for data collection. Awareness level was determined based on the number of myths around OC causation recognized to be incorrect: poor (0–4), fair (5–9), and good (10–13).ResultsA total of 5618 participants agreed and completed the questionnaire out of 6095 approached (response rate = 92.1%), and 5411 questionnaires were included in the final analysis. The most recognized food-related myth was ‘drinking from plastic bottles’ (n = 1370, 25.3%) followed by ‘eating burnt food’ (n = 1298, 24.0%). The least recognized food-related myth was ‘eating food containing additives’ (n = 611, 11.3%). The most recognized food-unrelated myth was ‘having a physical trauma’ (n = 2899, 53.6%), whereas the least recognized was ‘using mobile phones’ (n = 1347, 24.9%). Only 273 participants (5.1%) had good awareness of OC causation myths as incorrect. Earning higher monthly incomes as well as visiting governmental healthcare facilities were associated with a decrease in the likelihood of exhibiting good awareness.ConclusionThe overall recognition of OC causation myths was low. Addressing mythical beliefs should be included in OC prevention strategies and public health interventions to improve women’s understanding of OC risk factors versus mythical causes.