On the 4th August 2025 we wrote to Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, to ask how the recent report from the United Nations stating Israel is deliberately killing women and girls will influence the UK government’s policy towards the war on Gaza. Please do use this as a template for your own letter to your local MP or press.
Dear Secretary of State,
The unfolding “femi-genocide” in Gaza: how can the United Nations report influence your government’s policy towards Israel’s war on Gaza?
As the longest standing international women’s peace organisation, WILPF UK (the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) is drawing your attention to the recent statement by Reem Alsalem, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, since it does not seem to have attracted media attention.
Reem Alsalem has called for immediate global action to halt what she described as an unfolding “femi-genocide” in Gaza. “What is happening to Palestinian women and girls is not collateral damage of war” she said. “It is the intentional destruction of their lives and bodies, for being Palestinian and for being women.”
The Special Rapporteur reiterated findings from her recent report to the UN Human Rights Council stating that Israel is deliberately killing Palestinian women and girls with the intent to destroy them and the continuity of the Palestinian people. According to estimates, women and girls account for 67 per cent of the 57,680 Palestinians killed by 9 July 2025. These statistics are endorsed by the heart-wrenching images we see on our TV screens daily.
We cannot fail to be aware of the starvation in Gaza and the targeting of civilians searching for food. This UN report reveals another level of intent by the Netanyahu government of Israel.
WILPF UK would appreciate your comments as the government Minister for Women and Equalities. How can this report influence your government’s policy towards Israel’s war on Gaza?
Yours in peace
