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https://apnews.com/article/gaza-sexual-exploitation-women-aid-israel-war-44c9daf14f2888d43cd05562b7d24a10
BY SAM MEDNICK AND SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
September 30, 2025
After weeks of scraping by to feed her six children in Gaza, the 38-year-old woman thought she’d found a lifeline.
At a shelter, a friend told her about a man who could help with food, aid, maybe even a job. The woman — separated from her husband, and forced to shutter the business that once kept the family afloat — approached him.
It was about a month into the war in Gaza, she said, and he promised her work, a six-month contract with an aid agency. On the day she believed she’d sign the paperwork, he drove her not to an office but to an empty apartment. He complimented her, she said, and told her to remove her headscarf.
He told her he loved her and wouldn’t force her, she said, but he also wouldn’t let her leave. Eventually, they had a sexual encounter, she said. She declined to give details of the nature of their interaction, saying she felt fear and shame.
“I had to play along because I was scared, I wanted out of this place,” the woman said.
Before she left, she said, he handed her some money — 100 shekels, about $30. Two weeks later, he gave her a box of medicine and a box of food. But for weeks, the job didn’t materialize.
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis grows, women say they have been exploited by local men — some associated with aid groups — promising food, money, water, supplies or work in exchange for sexual interactions. Six women detailed their experiences to The Associated Press, each speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from their families or the men and because sexual harassment and assault are considered taboo topics. Sometimes, they said, the men’s solicitation was blatant: “Let me touch you,” one woman recalled being told. Other times, it was culturally coded: “I want to marry you,” or “Let’s go together somewhere.”
BY SAM MEDNICK AND SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
September 30, 2025
After weeks of scraping by to feed her six children in Gaza, the 38-year-old woman thought she’d found a lifeline.
At a shelter, a friend told her about a man who could help with food, aid, maybe even a job. The woman — separated from her husband, and forced to shutter the business that once kept the family afloat — approached him.
It was about a month into the war in Gaza, she said, and he promised her work, a six-month contract with an aid agency. On the day she believed she’d sign the paperwork, he drove her not to an office but to an empty apartment. He complimented her, she said, and told her to remove her headscarf.
He told her he loved her and wouldn’t force her, she said, but he also wouldn’t let her leave. Eventually, they had a sexual encounter, she said. She declined to give details of the nature of their interaction, saying she felt fear and shame.
“I had to play along because I was scared, I wanted out of this place,” the woman said.
Before she left, she said, he handed her some money — 100 shekels, about $30. Two weeks later, he gave her a box of medicine and a box of food. But for weeks, the job didn’t materialize.
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis grows, women say they have been exploited by local men — some associated with aid groups — promising food, money, water, supplies or work in exchange for sexual interactions. Six women detailed their experiences to The Associated Press, each speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from their families or the men and because sexual harassment and assault are considered taboo topics. Sometimes, they said, the men’s solicitation was blatant: “Let me touch you,” one woman recalled being told. Other times, it was culturally coded: “I want to marry you,” or “Let’s go together somewhere.”
