Field report from Gaza

Beaten and humiliated and pressured by her family to abandon her children, Samah has unswervingly kept her children under her protection and with the help of the family strengthening programme organised by the SOS Social Centre in Gaza, she has been able to provide for them on her own.

"I Will Not Leave My Children"

Samah is just 26 years old. But the burdens she has had to carry for more than ten years give her eyes the look of an old woman.

Patterns of violence and stigma
Samah is divorced with two children aged nine and three. Married at 16, she had to endure a husband who used to beat her for years, until she could no longer cope. After receiving the divorce she so longed for, Samah turned to her father for assistance and support, but found his door shut and padlocked against her. Nevertheless, Samah reluctantly moved back to her father's house because she did not feel strong enough to override the rules of traditional society - stigmatising women who live alone.

Her father immediately began a pattern of abuse and violence against her and her children. "I used to be beaten in front of my children by my father and brothers. They wanted me give my children away to an institution and remarry because my father said we were a burden to him," Samah remembers, "But I said I will not leave my children."

Stigmatised by her entire family and community as a divorced woman, Samah found rejection time and again by members of her extended family. The kindest relatives agreed to house Samah temporarily provided that she either leaves her children in the care of an orphanage or similar institution, or with their abusive father, so that they can help her find a new husband.

Yet despite the enormous pressure, Samah continued to refuse to abandon her children, who she considered the most important thing in her life. "I was close to despair, and I felt all alone as though I'm the only woman with these problems," she says.

Financial support and vocational training
It was then that the SOS Social Centre in Gaza launched its family strengthening programme and Samah was identified as a candidate to receive assistance from the programme. At first the programme provided financial assistance to her and her children, making sure that the children can attend school and the family has access to appropriate medical care.

Then Samah attended a training course in sewing. Thanks to her basic knowledge in sewing and dress making acquired when she used to help her mother who was a seamstress, Samah learnt the new skills rapidly. Eventually the family strengthening programme provided Samah with a sewing machine so that she could run her own small business from home.

On the path to full independence

Equipped with new self-confidence, Samah is now trying to find a home of her own, for herself and her two children. This is still not easy because society looks negatively on single mothers living alone with their children. However, her father's small home can no longer accommodate her small family as well as her father and brothers.

In addition, her father constantly pressures her to sell the food parcels she receives from the family strengthening programme to provide money for his drug habits. It was difficult for Samah to refuse to give him her children's food, but with the support of the social centre co-workers and her fellow beneficiaries and friends, Samah managed to stand up for herself. Her father no longer beats her or her children and has stopped demanding that Samah remarries and abandons her children.

Today Samah is benefiting not only from the financial assistance provided by the family strengthening programme, but also from the counselling and therapy she receives, as well as the health awareness sessions that she attends. In addition she is learning more about her rights as a woman and her children's rights. She also has access to medical care and a lawyer who provides her with legal support.

Although not yet financially independent through her own work, Samah is optimistic about her future. "I visualise my future life more stable and independent. The prospect of being able to keep my children under my protection especially once I will be financially independent keeps me working hard," she concludes.