On the morning of October 7, 2023
civilian communities and military posts in southern Israel:
Launched strategic
barrages of more
than 500 rockets
Attacked and killed
over 1,200 men, women
and children
Abducted 251 people, including infants and small children
Used sexual violence
as a weapon of war
Perpetrated similar
patterns across
multiple locations,
indicating premeditation
Continued to commit
sexual violence
against hostages
Following
these events,
prominent female experts in the legal and gender fields founded the ‘Dinah Project’ that strives to achive justice and recognition for all victims of conflict related sexual violence.
The Dinah Project and its 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 were tasked with gathering, analyzing, and verifying information on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) from October 7 onwards, and 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 UN team found a recurring patten of victims, mostly women, either partially or fully naked, whose bodies had suffered gunshot wounds and mutilation, across multiple locations.
While acknowledging the circumstantial nature of this evidence, the UN team concluded that it indicates deliberate sexual violence, including sexually motivated torture and brutality. The team was also convinced that this violence continued to be inflicted on the hostages in captivity.
Our Impact
The Dinah Project has provided briefings to the UN Security Council (NY), UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (Geneva), and senior White House staff. Our research and findings have been presented to legal entities, senior policymakers, and dozens of foreign ministers, ambassadors, and diplomats in Europe, North America, and the Far East.
Shortly after its inception, the Dinah Project compiled a comprehensive evidentiary and legal infrastructure, becoming a leading voice, both in Israel and worldwide, in demanding recognition and justice for the victims of sexual crimes on October 7 and during the hostages’ captivity.
In July 2025, the English translation of the book ‘A Quest for Justice’ was published. The book presents an in-depth and comprehensive legal and factual analysis of the sexual crimes committed on October 7 and during the hostages’ captivity. The book also proposes a roadmap that will enable prosecution for conflict related sexual violence. The Hebrew version of the book, that includes further updates and evidence from returning hostages, was published in June 2026.
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.
CRSV is a brutal weapon of war used by an attacking force against a civilian population. A multifaceted phenomenon with a variety of acts that may not always be immediately recognized as sexual violence under conventional criminal doctrines, CRSV frequently recurs in conflict zones and is characterized by especially high levels of incidents such as sexual assault and rape.
Despite their frequency, these assaults are typically underreported – both because of the difficulty victims have in reporting these crimes (due to trauma, shame, fear, stigma, social reactions etc.) and because many of the victims are no longer alive, whether murdered or having died.
The phenomenon of CRSV is manifested in a diverse range of acts, including touching intimate body parts, forced nudity in the presence of an abductor, violation of personal boundaries, rape, and other despicable unimaginable deeds.
Women and children are considered to be particularly vulnerable populations in combat zones. 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 Interahamwe 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 and directed by Anat Stalinsky (‘Kastina Communications’)
Who we are
The Dinah Project is made up of senior legal and gender experts determined that the world never forget the heinous gender crimes perpetrated on October 7, 2023 and during the hostages’ captivity.
The project members are committed to working to secure justice and recognition for all those affected everywhere by conflict related sexual violence, whenever it occurs.
