UNFPA: Gender-based Violence Trends Analysis: Gaza (April-May 2025)

25 June 2025

The GBV Area of Responsibility (AOR) in Gaza continues to collect information to analyze gender-based violence (GBV) trends in the current emergency context. This report highlights the incidence and the nature of GBV cases reported by GBV service providers, acknowledging that reporting of GBV still remains challenged in Gaza due to limited movement, stigma and lack of information despite the awareness raising efforts on the available services. The data primarily reflects cases managed by GBV Case Management Taskforce members, including AISHA, AWDA, CWLRC, CFTA, WAC, IMC, UNRWA, ACHA, WEFAQ.

Key Findings:

Overall trends:

Since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza on 8 March 2025, the situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate. Constant evacuation orders have led to repeated forced displacement, with many families uprooted multiple times. The blockade on border crossings has further compounded the crisis particularly for women and girls by severely limiting access to essential resources such as food, water, and shelter, as well as life-saving services, including health care.

The risk of GBV has intensified, driven by displacement, scarcity of resources, and the breakdown of protective family and community structures. While the number of GBV cases reported increased in April compared to earlier months, there was a 19.8% decline in reported incidents in May 2025. This decrease is attributed to large-scale displacement among the community as well as the service providers, and disruptions in case documentation whereby many survivors continued to seek services but were not captured in official reporting due to lack of transfer of case files.

During this reporting period, denial of resources, opportunities, and services emerged as the most frequently reported form of GBV. This was closely linked to the widespread poverty, displacement, and the growing scarcity of basic supplies, particularly food. While reported cases of rape and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) remain low, these incidents are severely underreported. GBV case managers have shared concerning testimonies in task force meetings and trainings, including cases involving adolescent girls and women with disabilities raped by family members and strangers. Despite rape appearing as 0% in the data, there has been severe underreporting due to fear of retaliation, stigma, and lack of awareness about available services and the collapse of justice system, with survivors not consenting to the recording of their cases.