"Women of Gaza Are Holding On, But For How Long?"

What is happening in Gaza now is a backward step in every way for the feminist movement, says Farah Barqawi, a Palestinian feminist, performer and poet, pursuing an MFA degree in non-fiction creative writing in Brooklyn

- Farah Barqawi

I was a teenager in Gaza 20 years ago and I remember an incident when I was was having a heavy period day. I was at a bus stand at the Rafah crossing, which had white plastic seats. Despite wearing a sanitary napkin, I overflowed and stained the seat. An older woman called out to me and pointed at the blood. I am a feminist and raised well by my feminist mother and know there is no shame in menstruating. And yet, I remember how stigmatising that moment was for me. 

Today, sitting in Brooklyn, United States, watching my city get reduced to rubble, I keep thinking about that day at the bus stop and I wonder what the menstruating women must be going through at the moment in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli siege for nearly three months. I can feel the shame and humiliation they must be feeling. Many of these young girls and women just carried a backpack when they left their homes. How much could they even carry in that backpack? It’s not surprising to hear that in Gaza, the demand for pills to block menstruation and contraception has gone up since this invasion. Women do not want to menstruate as there is no water or pads.