691,300 Palestinian women face a burden gravely ignored by the international community: period poverty. This condition is a symptom of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a perpetrator of human rights violations. Even before the renewed tensions, Palestinian women struggled to manage their cycles. However, as Israel denies Palestinians essential humanitarian aid, women must resort to coping mechanisms that risk medical complications and strip them of their dignity. Though international doctrines condemn this callous deprivation, aid still ignores and even endangers menstruating Palestinians. Thankfully, United Nations sectors combat these issues by disproving misconceptions about the frivolity of menstrual hygiene. These actors emphasize an important policy measure: the need to teach the world that menstrual hygiene is a human right. This discourse will highlight the detriment of Palestinian period poverty, the doctrines that denounce these violations, the need to replace substandard aid practices, and the educational movements that eradicate this suffering from its core.
A 2023 National Institute of Health investigation on Birzeit University provides precedent for Palestinian menstrual inequity. In a survey of 400 female students, ‘‘…14.5% reported that menstrual hygiene products are expensive, and 15.3% reported that they always/sometimes had to use menstrual products that they do not like because they are cheaper. Most (71.9%) of the respondents reported that they used menstrual products for [a] longer time than recommended due to inadequate washing facilities at the university campus.” Period poverty is not a new phenomenon for Palestinian citizens. Pre-war circumstances reveal that societal infrastructures routinely underperform. The women of Palestine are left unsupported and defenseless, whether in wartime or in peacetime.
Israel continues to increase its military presence in Palestine following October 7th. These changes forcibly displace the majority of the Palestinian population. Women who relocate to refugee camps often encounter deficiencies in menstrual hygiene. As a result, their health quickly deteriorates. A 2025 report by the UNFPA, titled “Silent Struggles,” describes how female refugees reconcile this destitution. The report states, ‘‘In the face of these conditions, women and girls have turned to coping strategies that compromise their dignity and well-being. Many use old clothes, torn fabric, or sponges in place of sanitary pads. Without clean water, they cannot wash or reuse materials safely, increasing the risk of infection… In overcrowded shelters with no privacy, managing menstruation becomes a risk in itself.’’ Sadly, this health insecurity permeates beyond Birzeit University. War’s impoverishment aggravates the scarcity of menstrual hygiene. Women, therefore, must use strategies that counteract healthy bodily function. These healthcare choices not only risk their current well-being, but they also subject women to the potential for long-term ailments. And, without the means to keep this process private, their corporal vulnerability becomes a target of public scorn.
This insufficiency not only causes feminine health to deteriorate, but it also threatens Palestinian women with immense indignity. A 2025 United Nations study features testimonies from female refugees. In this piece, an anonymous girl recounts the shame she experienced while menstruating. The girl laments, “‘I only had one pad, so I wrapped it in toilet paper to make it last. I couldn’t wash, and the pain was horrible. I sat in silence, crying until the end of the day.’” Unfortunately, alleviation from shame is similarly scant—relief only comes with the arrival of a hygiene package. Another female refugee, Maysa, also appreciates the immense impact of this aid, as reflected in her testimony. Maysa wisely concludes that, “‘Food keeps us alive, but pads, soap, and privacy let us live with dignity…When we receive hygiene kits, it feels like someone finally sees us.’” Menstrual hygiene upholds a fundamental human rights principle: The idea that people deserve to be viewed and treated as equals. Feminine hygiene aid represents, to many Palestinian women, a long-overdue affirmation of their equal worth. That idea of equality disappears without hygienic aid, and this natural process devolves into an unbearable ordeal. Menstruation becomes endowed with a sense of ostracism and shame, causing these women to feel inhuman.
Staggering evidence indicates a need for period poverty relief. Yet, the majority of Palestinian-focused aid fails to address this issue. As reported by the BBC, on March 2nd, 2025, the Israeli government implemented severe blockades on NGO activity in Palestine. Though some aid activities were allowed to resume, these efforts overlooked menstrual hygiene. The 2025 report by UNFPA, titled “Silent Struggles,” documents the inefficiencies of new aid. The piece recounts, ‘‘While aid convoys have recently resumed, they focus primarily on food and medical supplies, with no hygiene materials included.’’ This neglect reveals a flaw in the foundation of current aid practices: relief operates on the false assumption that menstrual hygiene does not promote human rights. In reality, hunger and medical relief are not fundamentally different from menstrual hygiene aid. They serve the same purpose: promoting human rights through an exemplary quality of life. Nevertheless, humanitarian actors assign arbitrary values to both, misjudging their worth in the process. The needs of Palestinian women remain gravely unfulfilled, and blatant violations of human rights continue unimpeded.
Palestinian period poverty constitutes a grave offense against human rights doctrines. For example, Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the universal right to medical services. Furthermore, this article underscores the importance of women’s healthcare. The International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights builds upon these ideas: Under Article 12, states parties must preserve safe and hygienic living conditions to ensure universal physical and mental health. The 12th Article of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women similarly compels states parties to provide satisfactory and nondiscriminatory women’s healthcare. State constitutions do not depart from this virtuous aspiration: the constitutions of Palestine and Israel both advocate for the conservation of human dignity. Article 10 of Palestine’s constitution guarantees the protection of basic human rights and liberties. Finally, under the constitutional section titled Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, Israel vows to uphold human rights standards that coincide with the sanctity of human life. The standards of Palestinian life starkly contradict the promises proclaimed in these documents. The women of Palestine do not receive adequate and indiscriminate healthcare; women’s healthcare is evidently minimal and infrequent. The women of Palestine do not see their basic socio-economic rights protected: first-hand testimonies reveal circumstances characterized by privation and indignation. The living conditions of female refugees do not exemplify sanctity: during menstruation, these women become the victims of cultural contempt. In truth, the state actors entrusted to women’s protection abandon their vital duties. They stand idly by as the health and pride of Palestinian women withers into nonexistence. Principles should inspire state parties to action, yet the distress of menstruating Palestinian women remains constant.
The ambition to end Palestinian period poverty appears tragically futile. This futility is only perpetuated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli aid organization that provides Palestinian relief. The GHF, like its predecessors, devalues period poverty relief. However, humanitarian scholars condemn this organization as a Trojan horse for geopolitical interests. A UN press release details the startling casualty tolls associated with GHF relief sites. The study reports that ‘‘Nearly 1400 people have been killed and more than 4000 injured while seeking food. At least 859 people have been killed around GHF sites since the beginning of GHF’s operations in late May 2025.’’ The GHF preys on the vulnerable through its guise of philanthropy. The organization persuades Palestinians towards trust only to catalyze irrevocable harm to its recipients. Its tactics ultimately extend Israeli military operations by encouraging mass terror and a Palestinian exodus out of the Levant. The GHF’s inadequacy mandates a response from the global community. International actors cannot act complacently while a masquerader abuses the ideal of human rights to incapacitate Palestine. Instead, the world must demand the swift replacement of the GHF.
Although the gap left by the GHF must be filled, it cannot be replaced by former aid practices that overlook menstrual needs. International blueprints exist to rectify these circumstances. Aid actors should derive inspiration from Human Rights Watch and WASH United. These NGOs conclude, through examining global detention centers, refugee camps, and schools, that this pattern of disregard stems from the intrinsic structure of relief organizations. Previous aid exemplifies the severe underestimation of period poverty’s impacts on human rights. Human Rights Watch and WASH United do not overlook this causality, and their 2017 joint guide advises humanitarian actors on how to do the same. The manual instructs relief groups to attack period poverty from two angles: with resources and with education. Aid organizations must first evaluate whether their services provide adequate menstrual materials, facilities, and education for female recipients. After this analysis is completed, relief groups must attack cultural stigmas embedded in society. Human Rights Watch and WASH United encourage humanitarians to facilitate educational dialogues surrounding menstruation. In combination, these efforts frame menstrual hygiene as a pillar of human rights. Human Rights Watch and WASH United spark a ripple effect. By helping aid organizations dismantle internal misconceptions, these NGOs empower smaller actors to combat false external beliefs. The guidebook serves as tangible proof that, by adopting the techniques of Human Rights Watch and WASH United, humanitarians further their scope to ensure no one is forgotten.
Menstruation comes with social prejudices augmented by ineffective remedies. International aid actors historically ignore the importance of menstrual resources, which endangers women’s health, compromises feminine dignity, and violates countless human rights doctrines. Mass medical disregard and social shame cannot go ignored. NGOs cannot let the complexity of Palestinian period poverty intimidate them into inaction. Progress begins externally: the global community must call for the GHF’s immediate replacement. The realization of progress, however, is internal: NGOs must look inwards, to their past practices and assumptions, to inform future approaches. Only then can aid actors understand and address the systemic issues that promote menstrual inequity and shame. Together, the international community must discard its previous notions about Palestinian period poverty. The world must pursue a greater future where, through collective action, every member of society is truly seen and treated as an equal.
Featured/Headline Image Caption and Citation: Menstrual Products, Image sourced from Flickr | CC License, no changes made