Washington D.C., USA – The horrific sexual violence inflicted upon Israeli women and girls during the Hamas attacks of 7 October has sparked outrage and condemnation from human rights advocates. This appalling incident, which included gang-rape, sexual assaults, and violation of corpses, has highlighted the slow response of international organizations, governments, and civil society to these heinous acts. The lack of immediate condemnation and support for the victims raises concerns about biases and systemic issues that need to be addressed.
The slow response from various groups and the reluctance to believe and support the victims of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas stands in stark contrast to the typical emphasis on believing survivors’ accounts in the global movement against gender-based violence. Comparisons were drawn to the swift responses to similar acts of violence against women in Iran, Iraq, and Nigeria, raising questions about the underlying biases and perceived differences in reactions to different victims of gender-based violence.
The article further emphasized President Biden’s condemnation of Hamas’s use of sexual violence, calling on governments, international organizations, and civil society to condemn such acts without exception. However, the lack of universal condemnation and outrage from those mandated to fight gender-based violence highlights the underlying biases and prejudices that prevent justice and equality in addressing such atrocities.
The silence and reluctance to believe the accounts of the Israeli women and girls affected by these attacks were identified as signs of deeper-seated antisemitism that must be acknowledged and confronted. The article stressed that the use of sexual violence as a tool of war is undeniably on the rise, and ignoring or delaying a response to such acts inadvertently validates the perpetrators and denies justice to the victims.
The piece concluded by calling for a collective acknowledgment and address of the deeper biases that hinder the pursuit of justice and equality in the fight against gender-based violence and antisemitism. It emphasized the urgent necessity of believing and supporting all survivors and victims of gender-based violence, regardless of their background or ethnicity, and rejecting any form of gender-based violence in conflict without exception.
In retrospective, the article called for a moment to confront the uncomfortable reality and reaffirm the commitment to all survivors and victims of gender-based violence, challenging the underlying prejudices that hinder the pursuit of justice and equality. The call for change echoed the urgency of believing women’s voices as a matter of justice and urgent necessity, transcending borders and cultural divides.