GAZA CITY, Gaza — It was a bitter disappointment for Yasmine, 26, when she learned that the family of the man she loved was against their engagement because she was divorced after two years of a previous failed marriage.

Everyone knows that Yasmine's divorce was no fault of her own; she was just an unlucky woman. Yet, the way divorced women are perceived in Palestinian society pushes them to lead lonely lives, shunned in the public eye. This perception takes away their right to make free choices and move freely, to build social relations or find satisfactory jobs. They have heinous accusations hurled at them.

In 2012, Sharia courts in the Gaza Strip recorded 2,872 divorce cases. The total divorce rate reached 17.1%, according to statistics issued by the Religious Court in the Gaza Strip.

"I divorced my first husband after two years of marriage because of his bad temper, which was not his fault. Months later, I fell for another man, and he fell for me. When he told his parents he wanted to marry me, they accused him of being insane,” Yasmine told Al-Monitor.