No fears of reprisal or shame when using anti-violence “Masahatuna” application

Women fearing to report domestic violence against them in Gaza pushed a Palestinian computer engineer to develop an application that allow them to register with the service without revealing their names.

The phone app by Alaa Huthut helps a growing number of women in Gaza seek help from fourteen Women’s care Counseling institutions without going directly to the authorities.

The “Masahatuna” or “Our Spaces” app aims at providing women and girls a way out of local community where family pressures keep much domestic violence under wraps.

Alaa spoke to A24 News Agency’s reporter Mohammed Al-Najjar and called for adopting and spreading the idea to reduce the global phenomenon.

According to the Community Media Center in Gaza, fifty percent of women in the Strip are exposed to domestic violence.

Women’s groups said the problem was exacerbated during the closure due to the Covid-19 Corona pandemic.

The project manager at the Community Media Center, Kholoud Al-Sawalmeh, said nearly four hundred women downloaded the application; one hundred and seventy of them contacted centers that provide psychological and legal support.