Women Forced to Use Period-Delaying Pills in Gaza
Several Palestinian women are now compelled to take menstruation-delaying pills due to the dire conditions from the Israeli war on Gaza. Palestinian women are grappling with unsanitary conditions brought on by the Israeli Regime’s relentless bombing and blockade of water, electricity and humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Many women are displaced, living in overcrowded conditions, and severely lack access to water and menstruation hygiene products. Women are now taking norethisterone tablets, which are otherwise used to treat severe menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and painful periods.
The pills may have side effects such as irregular vaginal bleeding, nausea, changes to the menstrual cycle, dizziness and mood swings, according to medical professionals.
Palestinian women said they have no choice but to take the pill following Israel’s ongoing collateral damage on the Gaza Strip. A lack of sanitary pads from the few pharmacies left open in Gaza have further compelled women to take the period delaying pills. The use of bathrooms for regular hygiene is largely limited.
Pharmacies and stores are also facing a huge decrease in supplies following Israel’s total siege on the Gaza strip since October 7, 2023. Several main roads in the Gaza Strip have made the transporting of medical products from warehouses to pharmacies an “impossible task.”
If you value our journalism…
TMJ News is committed to remaining an independent, reader-funded news platform. A small donation from our valuable readers like you keeps us running so that we can keep our reporting open to all! We’ve launched a fundraising campaign to raise the $10,000 we need to meet our publishing costs this year, and it’d mean the world to us if you’d make a monthly or one-time donation to help. If you value what we publish and agree that our world needs alternative voices like ours in the media, please give what you can today.