Middle East peace effort's missing key: female negotiators.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of the Middle East Quartet debate whether evictions of Palestinian families are a barrier or catalyst to a two-state solution, Israeli and Palestinian women alike confront the realities of the conflict on the ground.

These women work toward a sustainable peace as committee members, as demonstrators, and as mothers raising and educating their children despite occupation. But their representation in formal negotiations is inadequate.

Because Israeli and Palestinian women are disproportionately affected by occupation and the threat of violence, their input into the national security debate – and international negotiations for peace – is essential.

On the Palestinian side, occupation increases women's exposure to violence not only while traveling to various locations, but also at home.

Consider the story of Maha, a Palestinian woman living next to the wall separating Israel from the West Bank. Before the wall, Maha was able to travel without problem to the village of Al Ram, where she taught mathematics, according to the Jerusalem Center for Women. But now, the potential for harassment at checkpoints is the norm. Because of that, she no longer travels at all and can no longer bring home the income from her job. This in turn diminishes her family's economic security.

Though men face economic hardship as well, the threat of gender-based harassment can mean increased restrictions on women's movement, and hindered access to jobs, healthcare, and education. Because women are often the care-takers, a danger that requires a child to stay inside the house means diminished educational and economic opportunity for mothers and sisters, in addition to increased psychological and emotional stress.

For other women, the economic hardship experienced by men due to the occupation correlates with increased levels of domestic violence, as Amnesty International reports. Additionally, the numerous roadblocks and restrictions on movement mean women may have difficulty physically getting to remote family and friends to seek psychological support after they experience domestic violence.

In Israel, too, increased levels of militarization and violence have affected women disproportionately, particularly in poor and marginalized communities. As in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, increased violence among men – as seen among Israeli army combatants during intensified military operations – can mean the home becomes more tumultuous and emotionally stressful, increasing the probability of domestic violence.

Along national borders as well, poor women feel the greatest burden of rocket attacks. During the 2006 Second Lebanon War in northern Israel, women received little assistance from the Israeli government in the aftermath of Hezbollah rocket attacks, according to the Mahut Center in Haifa.

Because many poverty stricken women lost jobs during the war, the lack of government compensation for forgone wages led to a widening of the economic gap between men and women. Higher unemployment, compounded with the emotional burden of caring for children out of school meant increased reports of trauma and despair among women, according to the center.

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