The women then asked for a discussion on bedwetting, aggressive behavior and disobedience among children. After five meetings, the women told me that they wanted to begin to discuss the problems they were experiencing as women. The women talked of the Intifada, the curfews imposed by the Israeli army, imprisonments and beatings, and the psychological effects upon them stress and trauma- related symptoms physical and emotional abuse. To hear the women talk openly on these subjects was an exciting experience and it filled me with hope for the future. In Gaza we have had to start from the beginning, by contacting and educating people about the concept of mental health.
Services can only begin when people understand and accept what is being offered.