The thirdspace of response to intrafamilial child abuse among Palestinian survivors in Israel: “The closeness to the earth felt like a mother's embrace”

BACKGROUND: Trauma and human geography studies have often overlooked how children's responses to intrafamilial abuse are shaped by the spaces surrounding them. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore how children experience and respond to intrafamilial abuse. In particular, the focus will be on the spatial dimensions of their responses, within environments marked by restricted mobility, continuous surveillance, and broader socio-political oppression of a marginalized minority. METHODS: A qualitative narrative methodology was employed. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 Palestinian Muslim adults (16 women, 5 men) in Israel who experienced prolonged intrafamilial physical abuse in childhood. Data was analyzed using an inductive, narrative-based thematic approach. RESULTS: The analysis identified three themes: (1) interlocked geographies of violence, linking intrafamilial abuse with state oppression and historical trauma; (2) alternative geographies of survival, where children reshaped spaces for safety and agency; and (3) the politics of sumud (steadfastness), framing silence and non-disclosure as acts of collective resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Palestinian children's responses to abuse are spatially and politically constituted acts of survival and resistance. This necessitates a paradigm shift in child protection toward contextual, community-based interventions that recognize these strategies as part of a broader anti-colonial struggle.