The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP) concluded its project, “Empowering and Promoting Women’s Rights,” funded by the Rule of Law Programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Justice and Security for the Palestinian People. The conclusion was marked by a meeting organized by the Center today.

Ms. Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi, Director of the Center, welcomed attendees, including directors and representatives of women’s and civil organizations, as well as media professionals, noting that the project primarily aims to serve the Palestinian community. She announced the launch of the documentary book, “Women Ravaged by War,” which documents the violations women face in the aftermath of war, particularly legal issues related to the custody of children whose fathers were killed in the conflict, property rights, and the divorce of some women due to direct injuries sustained during the war, resulting in disabilities.

Mr. Ibrahim Abu Shamala, Deputy Coordinator of the Justice and Security for the Palestinian People Programme, expressed his gratitude to the Center, pointing out a significant gap in women’s rights, especially after the recent war on the Gaza Strip. He stated that women suffer from violence and discrimination, in addition to inheritance, custody, and other issues. He praised the Center’s role in assisting and following up on the legal cases faced by women in the aftermath of the war, as demonstrated by the project’s on-the-ground results.

Ms. Samah Al-Qishawi, Project Coordinator, presented the project’s objective of contributing to the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality in the Gaza Strip, as well as its specific goals. She highlighted the project’s key achievements, most notably the launch of the documentary book, “Women Ravaged by War,” which is considered the first of its kind to monitor and document the suffering of women after the war related to legal issues. Legal assistance was also provided to women through legal consultations, both direct and indirect, to a total of (614) women and men, including (276) direct consultations and (255) indirect consultations.

She added that the Center provided legal representation in (72) cases for (54) women. Ms. Zakia Karim, the project’s lawyer, indicated that the total number of cases followed up by the Center through the project was (51) Sharia cases in several legal issues, and (21) civil cases related to financial rights and the enforcement of Sharia rulings. Judgments were obtained in (61) civil and Sharia cases, and (11) cases are still pending in court on various legal matters.

She pointed out the legal interventions before governmental and international institutions to mediate the resolution of outstanding issues for women in institutions, most importantly: reconstruction issues after the recent war on Gaza with UNRWA and the Ministry of Public Works, and communication with the Sharia Judicial Council in Ramallah to resolve the crisis of withholding funds for divorced and abused women, and work is still underway to solve the problem.

She affirmed that the Center obtained divorce judgments for (8) women who had been in limbo for many years and arranged the marriage of (2) women after filing a lawsuit against the father for preventing his daughters from marrying, where the girl was over (37) years old.

Mr. Mustafa Darwish presented the field lawyers’ experience during the implementation of workshops, in addition, field researcher Samar Aliwa presented the experience of the researchers in the field work to document women’s stories.