Recognition and justice
for victims of sexual violence
in conflict
October 7th, 2023. Holding perpetrators accountable.
Recognition and justice
for victims of sexual violence
in conflict
Holding perpetrators accountable.
On the morning of October 7th, 2023
Launched strategic
barrages of more
than 500 rockets
Attacked and killed
over 1,200 men, women
and children
Took hostage 251
people, including infants
and small children
Used sexual violence
as a weapon of war
Perpetrated similar
patterns across
multiple locations,
pointing to premeditation
Continues to commit
sexual violence
against hostages
Following
these events,
the Dinah Project and founding member Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, were instrumental in bringing to Israel a team of UN experts led by Pramila Patten, Under Secretary General, Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG-SVC).
Patten and her team, tasked to gather, analyze, and verify information on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) from October 7 onwards, documented clear evidence of severe sexual acts such as rape, torture, and humiliation. Incidents of rape and gang rape occurred at several locations, notably the Nova music festival, Highway 232, and Kibbutz Re’im.
The team found a patten of victims, mostly women, who were partially or fully naked, their bodies shot and mutilated, across multiple locations.
While acknowledging the circumstantial nature of this evidence, the team concluded it indicates deliberate sexual violence, including sexually motivated torture and cruel treatment. The team was also convinced that this violence persists against the remaining hostages.
Impact
Based on our expertise and professionalism, the Dinah Project has provided briefings to the
UN Security Council (NY), UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (Geneva), and White House Senior Staff. We have presented our findings and positions to high-level domestic officials
and policymakers, and to dozens of ministers of foreign affairs, ambassadors, and diplomats in Europe, North America, and the Far East.
In the brief time since our inception, the Dinah Project has already built a comprehensive knowledge base and become a leading resource in Israel and the world in the call for recognition and justice for the victims of sexual crimes on October 7 and for the hostages.
IMPACT
Based on our expertise and professionalism, the Dinah Project has provided briefings to the
UN Security Council (NY), UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (Geneva), and White House Senior Staff. We have presented our findings and positions to high-level domestic officials
and policymakers, and to dozens of ministers of foreign affairs, ambassadors, and diplomats in Europe, North America, and the Far East.
In the brief time since our inception, the Dinah Project has already built a comprehensive knowledge base and become a leading resource in Israel and the world in the call for recognition and justice for the victims of sexual crimes on October 7 and for the hostages.
Acts of CRSV are brutal weapons against a civilian population under attack. Multifaceted and composed of acts that may not be immediately recognized as sexual violence within conventional criminal doctrines, CRSV recurs frequently in conflict situations, when incidents of sexual assault and rape during combat and captivity are particularly high.
However, these injuries are also characterized by considerable underreporting – both because it is so difficult for victims to report these crimes (due to shame, fear of social labeling, reactions of the social environment, etc.) and because a significant portion of the victims are murdered or perish afterwards.
A wide-range of acts may constitute crimes of sexual violence. These range from the touching of intimate body parts, forced nudity in the presence of an abductor, sexual abuse, violation of personal boundaries, rape, and other abhorrent behaviors that the human mind struggles to even imagine.
In combat zones, women and children are considered to be a particularly vulnerable population. Recent examples of this heinous phenomenon include the sexual enslavement of Yazidi women by ISIS and the sexual torture of Tutsi women in Rwanda by the INTERHAMWE militias.
Acts of CRSV constitute a crime against humanity
Screams Before Silence
A documentary film about the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on Ocober 7, 2023,
led by Sheryl Sandberg (Kastina Communications)
Who we are
The Dinah Project is composed of legal and feminist experts determined that the world will never forget the heinous sexual violence and gender atrocities perpetrated on October 7th, 2023, and the ongoing abuse of the hostages. We are dedicated to bringing justice to those victims and to all future victims of conflict related sexual violence.
