Violence against women as a weapon of war is everywhere but many do not live to tell their stories

As soon as we heard about the attack by Hamas on young people at a musical event, along with the murder and kidnapping of Israelis in their homes, I was pretty sure that atrocities against women would have been part of the terror inflicted. I had spent seven years researching violence against women for a book (Scars Across Humanity) and rape as a weapon of war cropped up everywhere in my findings. I had seen the effects of torture and sexual brutality on women and girls in Congo and witnessed their struggle to live with trauma. I had listened to stories of viciousness and cruelty from surviving ‘comfort women’ in South Korea, now elderly but with bodies still impacted by the sexual violence of Japanese soldiers. It seemed to me to be without question that Hamas terrorists, already shown on film pulling women along by their hair, would also be raping and violating their bodies. That is what happens over again when the barbarisms of war combine with the desire to inflict pain on women.

silence still reigned on the extent of rape and victimisation of women

Allegations of sexual violence were raised very quickly after the Hamas attack. As the days went on, I waited for more claims to be made and evidence to mount up. But it felt almost as if the mute button had been pressed. The focus was on survivors’ stories, identifying the huge number of people murdered, anguish over hostages, and then the vengeance of the Israeli bombings. Social media campaigns, marches, interviews with political leaders, claims and dismissal all supported the growing propaganda output from both sides, yet silence still reigned on the extent of rape and victimisation of women.

 those who observed the intact corpses, including professional medics reported that the injuries they saw on women were entirely compatible with sexual attacks

One of the reasons was that no-one seemed to be collecting the evidence. We learn about rape as a weapon of war from four main sources: eye witness accounts, narratives from traumatised survivors, injury assessments from those who treat victims and pathology reports. In the aftermath of the attack, none of these was in clear public focus. Eye witness accounts did come from people like Raz Cohen who survived the music festival attack. Hiding for his life, he and his friends witnessed the ferocious rape and murder of girls. What impacted him most was the killers’ dehumanisation of their broken victims: ‘They laughed’ he told PBS Newshour in Washington, ‘they always laughed.’[1] More of these testimonies have surfaced since, from those who will never forget what they saw. Narrative accounts from the victims themselves, however, are so far unavailable. So are reports from medics who treated them, for no-one did. Most of the women so brutally violated were also brutally murdered.

We also know that pathologists didn’t carry out detailed examinations of the bodies of the dead. Corpses were taken to a military base, many of them unrecognisable, some missing body parts. The head of the forensic division of the Israeli police explained that their prime mission was to identify the bodies, not to get concerned with how they died or what happened. Nevertheless, those who observed the intact corpses, including professional medics reported that the injuries they saw on women were entirely compatible with sexual attacks. They saw ‘signs of abuse’ in the genital region, ‘broken legs, broken pelvises, bloody underwear’ and women undressed below the waist.[2] Some victims had their breasts or genitals cut off and in one kibbutz a dead woman had a knife in her vagina. 

Because so little was carefully documented by forensic professionals in the rush to dignify the bodies with burial, we lack the detailed records desperately needed. Blanket denials by Hamas fighters have slipped off the tongue with ease. They have even appealed to the Islamic faith to justify those denials. The Washington Post reported that one leader told them that Hamas regarded ‘any sexual relationship or activity outside of marriage to be completely haram (forbidden by Islamic law).’ [3] Yet it is very hard to take this appeal to the religious high ground seriously, when they so readily admit to the mass murder of Israeli adults, babies and children and see it as entirely justified.

Whatever we feel about the current state of war in the Middle East, we can be sure about this: the violation, savagery and dismembering forced on the precious flesh of women and girls is utterly wrong

The denial of sexual violation, and horrific brutality towards women by perpetrators is something I came across consistently in my research on rape as a weapon of war. Abusers insisted it never happened. I began to understand why. Most acts of violence in war can be seen as retaliation, settling old scores, acts of hostility against an oppressor or part of an ideological battle. Men who perpetuate violence on any of these counts can rely on finding other people who will support their narrative. They become heroes among their base and warriors in a just cause. But nothing justifies the gratuitous, sadistic and barbarous attack on women’s defenceless bodies. It can only be a denial of women’s identity as human beings, an expression of hatred towards their ‘otherness’ and an exploitation of their vulnerability. The truth can never be admitted.

This is why Christians – women and men - need to raise our voices in support of all those who are working hard to bring these crimes to light. Our faith really does teach us that women and men are of equal significance before God and that absolutely no-one has the right to violate women. Jesus demonstrated, in all his relationships with women, that God gives us intrinsic value; that our bodies are to be respected and loved, protected and cherished. Whatever we feel about the current state of war in the Middle East, we can be sure about this: the violation, savagery and dismembering forced on the precious flesh of women and girls is utterly wrong. And this ruthless inhumanity is under the judgement of God.

[1] Nick Shifrin, PBS Newshour Oct 10 2023

[2] Carrie Keller-Lynn reporting in The Times of Israel Nov 9 2023

[3] Shira Rubin, Washington Post November 25 2023