PA government has delayed reform of laws to protect women for 16 years --- and counting…

• Palestinian penal code does not protect women, needs updating - PA ministry director
   
• "Light punishment" encourages crimes against women - PA official
   
• For 16 years PA government has done nothing to reform laws to protect women - coordinator of the Forum for Combating Violence Against Women
   
• Rising violence against women in Palestinian society – PA Minister of Women's Affairs
   
• "WCLAC records approximately 25 cases of women and girls being killed every year, reflecting a persistent institutional failure to prevent violence and intervene before it escalates into lethal violence" - Palestinian Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling
   

The PA claims it is "reforming" to please Western donors, and PA Chairman Abbas has even announced long overdue elections for PA government and presidency in November this year.

Imagining that the PA actually does intend to undertake reform initiatives, there is one area of society that is critically in need of such measures: The laws to protect women. The PA government has neglected to deal with the "Family Protection from Violence Law" for at least 16 years. Sabah Salama, coordinator of the Forum for Combating Violence Against Women, explained that Palestinian women are not protected well enough by this and other laws:

Sabah Salama, coordinator of the Forum for Combating Violence Against Women: "The Penal Code of 1960 in the West Bank does not provide protection for the Palestinian woman. The Family Protection from Violence Law has been on the [PA] government's table for over 16 years, and its inaction [on the matter] also contributes to the exacerbation of this phenomenon and contributes to the violation of these women's right to life. Therefore, this [family protection] mechanism must be activated. The personal status law must be amended, the Penal Code must be amended, and the draft law for family protection from violence must be approved... It is not logical that the lives of Palestinian women and families are in danger and the laws and the legislator do not provide them with protection."

[Voice of Palestine Radio, Facebook page, July 13, 2026]

Similarly, District Governor of Tulkarem Abdallah Kmeil stated earlier this month that the "light punishment" for crimes against women makes perpetrators more inclined to commit them:

District Governor of Tulkarem Abdallah Kmeil: "You can't put a policeman in front of every house to protect women. Awareness is what protects the woman…"

Radio Bethlehem 2000 host: "There is no deterrence, the law does not deter, honestly."

Kmeil: "The point is the intensification of punishment against those who commit these crimes [against women]... When a man feels that the punishment is light, it might push him to commit the crime. So, if there is a severe punishment, he will think differently…"

Host: "Yes, let's hope there will be deterrent laws for these crimes."

[District Governorate of Tulkarem, Facebook page, Aug. 20, 2026]

Already in 2014, Palestinian Media Watch reported that following a steep rise in Palestinian honor killings, PA Chairman Abbas ordered a review of the discriminatory laws. Back then, Abbas ordered the PA government "to establish a legal committee to comprehensively review all sections of the various laws that discriminate against women, and to prepare the necessary amendments." [Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 7, 2014]

But according to Salama (above) and a director at the PA Ministry of Women's Affairs (below), nothing much has changed for Palestinian women. PA Ministry of Women's Affairs Director of Planning, Research, and Gender Studies Shadi Barghouti calls the Penal Code "outdated," criticizing "loopholes in the law" that enable criminals to go unpunished:

PA Ministry of Women's Affairs Director of Planning, Research, and Gender Studies Shadi Barghouti: "At the [PA] Ministry of Women's Affairs, we emphasize and act on the need to develop the legal framework to ensure effective protection for women, including expediting the legislation and updating of relevant laws, such as the outdated Penal Code, particularly the Personal Status Law and a collection of other laws that need to be worked on and that no longer serve our time period. There are also loopholes in the law that weaken the protection of women, such as mitigating circumstances that allow perpetrators of crimes to escape punishment."

[Voice of Palestine, official PA radio station, Facebook page, March 25, 2026]

Condemning a specific murder of a woman by her husband, PA Minister of Women's Affairs Muna Al-Khalili stressed that violence against women in Palestinian society is on the rise, and that one out of three women has suffered some kind of violence in her life, often from her spouse:

Headline: "[The PA minister] of women's affairs condemns the crime of a woman being murdered by her husband in Bethlehem"

"[PA] Minister of Women's Affairs Muna Al-Khalili condemned the crime of Jusian Ijha being murdered by her husband in Bethlehem. She emphasized that this crime constitutes a blatant violation of human rights, and reflects the danger of the phenomenon of rising violence against women in Palestinian society.

The minister noted that this crime is not an isolated incident but rather occurred in a worrying context, as according to estimates about a third of women in Palestine have been exposed to some form of violence during their lives, with a significant rate of the married women suffering from domestic violence – which proves the existence of recurring patterns of violations, which often precede murder crimes."

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 24, 2026]

In a report titled Femicide in Palestinian Society - An Analytical Report on the Killing of Women and Girls Monitored and Documented by the Center during 2023 and 2024, the Palestinian Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) documented respectively 23 and 26 cases of femicide in the PA and Gaza:

Far from all cases were listed as femicide, because the perpetrators disguise them as "suicide," "a fall from height," or "drowning," for example, to evade legal penalties. However, WCLAC conducts its own independent investigations, including cross-referencing police files with independent medical examiner/autopsy reports etc.

In a statement earlier this month, WCLAC announced that so far in 2026 it has documented 9 cases of femicide and are still investigating another 6 potential ones. [WCLAC website, Aug. 20, 2026]

WCLAC also accused the PA of "institutional failure," seeing an average of 25 cases of femicide annually:

"WCLAC records approximately 25 cases of women and girls being killed every year, reflecting a persistent institutional failure to prevent violence and intervene before it escalates into lethal violence."

[WCLAC website, Aug. 20, 2026]

WCLAC added that it holds the PA responsible for the many murders of women and girls, citing the delay in amending the Family Protection from Violence Law for years:

"WCLAC holds the Palestinian Authority and its executive, legislative and judicial institutions responsible for the continued failureto establish an effective protection system for women and girls. It is unacceptable to limit official responses to condemning crimes after they have occurred while the adoption of the Family Protection from Violence Law continues to be delayed, legislation remains fragmented and inadequate, investigations and prosecutions face persistent shortcomings, and effective and proportionate penalties are not consistently applied to ensure accountability and combat impunity."

[WCLAC website, Aug. 20, 2026]

In 2021, PMW reported that during a period of two years, 58 Palestinian women had been murdered as a result of domestic violence. The PA called it "a chronic illness" of society but was itself blamed for it by NGOs for not ratifying the law to protect women.

Statistics from 2023-2024 showed "49 murders of Palestinian women by the bullets of patriarchy" according to the official PA daily. The paper stated that these deaths are "linked to discrimination and violence within society, rooted in patriarchal culture, based on male hegemony and the subjugation of other groups in society, particularly women." [Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 19, 2025]

The same article quoted Nadwa Al-Barghouti, a field researcher at the WCLAC, for saying that "the rate of cases classified as ‘suicide' was about 23% out of 49 cases in the years 2023-2024.' Al-Barghouti added that:

"Many of these cases [of ‘suicide'] are unclear. There are signs that some of them are disguised murders. Following the abolition of mitigating circumstances in crimes on the grounds of [family] honor in 2014, the rate of 'suicides' suddenly increased, raising doubts about the nature of these cases.'"

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 19, 2025]

According to WCLAC, the number of annual femicides is unchanging, while the PA Minister of Women's Affairsreports that violence against women in Palestinian society is even on the rise. When the PA brags to its Western donors that it is oh, so reforming, these donors ought to ask, what about the women and the girls?

For more on Palestinian women's suffering under patriarchy, see the following PMW reports:

• Stolen Childhoods: Forced Marriages Haunt Palestinian Girls

• Honor killings don't happen in a vacuum

• Palestinian women's lives endangered by Palestinian Authority religious leaders' ruling

• Demands to change Palestinian Authority law allowing rapists to marry victims

The following is a longer excerpt of one of the reports cited above:

Headline: "49 murders of Palestinian women by the bullets of patriarchy in the years 2023-2024"

By Abir Al-Barghouti

"The story of S. (i.e., a woman who was murdered) is not unusual, but one of 49 murders under different circumstances of Palestinian women and girls in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the years 2023-2024. The only thing common to these cases is that the victims are women. 23 cases occurred in 2023, and 26 additional cases in 2024.

In 2023, 9 cases were documented as suicide, one death as a heart attack, one case of falling from a height, and several cases under unclear circumstances, in addition to 8 confirmed murders and one case defined as a natural death.

In 2024, 3 cases of suicide were documented, two deaths from heart attacks, 4 cases of falling (from a height or into a well), two cases under unclear circumstances, two drowning cases, 13 murders, and one case defined as a natural death. These numbers confirm that the murders of women continue, and that the gaps in combating them are still significant...

In a painful testimony received by Al-Hayat Al-Jadida from the mother of one of the victims, it was said: ‘My 15-year-old daughter lived in a Bedouin environment in northern Gaza, specifically in the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood. She was denied education. Before October 7 [2023] (i.e., Hamas' massacre and terror war against Israel), the father planned to marry her off to a 45-year-old man. During the war of extermination, a group of mercenaries broke into our home under the protection of the occupation (i.e., Israeli) army, attacked the family members, and raped the girl. After the family moved to the south, the father slaughtered the girl and buried her. The father then claimed that the cause of death was falling on a sharp object.' ...

The violence of the occupation fuels violence in society

The violence against Palestinian women takes many forms, and the reasons for it are intertwined, between the violence of the occupation and the violence within society, rooted in patriarchal culture.Official institutions, Palestinian non-governmental organizations, and even families and individuals are still engaged in ongoing battles to eradicate violence against women in Palestinian society in all its forms, types, expressions, and sources. This is despite the complexities of this phenomenon, stemming from its unique nature in the Palestinian reality; on one hand, it is fueled by the violence of the occupation, its ongoing aggression, and its continuous violations of Palestinian women's rights in various fields. It is also linked to discrimination and violence within society, rooted in patriarchal culture, based on male hegemony and the subjugation of other groups in society, particularly women...

Nadwa Al-Barghouti, a field researcher at the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling, noted that the rate of cases classified as "suicide" was about 23% out of 49 cases in the years 2023-2024. Al-Barghouti told Al-Hayat Al-Jadida: ‘Many of these cases are unclear. There are signs that some of them are disguised murders. Following the abolition of mitigating circumstances in crimes on the grounds of [family] honor in 2014, the rate of 'suicides' suddenly increased, raising doubts about the nature of these cases.'"

[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 19, 2025]