GAZA — “Ibtissam,” a 27-year-old woman from the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, asked for a number of guarantees before beginning to talk, among them that her real name not be used and that her story not be relayed to organizations assisting battered women. Despite attempts to reassure her when she met with Al-Monitor in public, she kept looking behind her for fear that her husband or one of his relatives might see her.

She had a gauze patch over one eye, stemming from a punch by her husband. Yet, that was not her motivation for meeting with Al-Monitor. Rather, what compelled her to be interviewed was her desire to make a change in her life. Thus, she recounted the details of her story, full of constant violence, including beatings and death threats, at the hands of her husband.

Ibtissam is not the only battered wife in Gaza. Some 37% of married women in the Palestinian territories have been subjected to domestic violence by their husbands. Of these, 51% live in Gaza according to a 2012 study by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Speaking in hushed tones for fear that passersby might hear, Ibtissam recounted her story.

“My husband did not like what I cooked for dinner, so he punched me in the face, injuring my eye. I often get severely beaten for trivial reasons. I am cruelly insulted, but cannot find anyone to listen to my plight or help me overcome my predicament.”