Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Chair of the Civil Commission, presented the findings of the Commission’s report on Hamas’s sexual crimes committed during the October 7 massacre and while holding hostages captive to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Annual Discussion on Women’s Rights in Geneva on Friday.
The report, Silenced No More, was prepared with the cooperation of leading international experts in international law and human rights. It has since been presented to governments, international organizations, academic institutions, and policymakers worldwide, according to the Commission.
Elkayam-Levy described the findings of the report, identifying 13 distinct patterns of abuse, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, deliberate burning, and the intentional mutilation of victims’ faces and genitals.
“We documented crimes so brutal that existing legal frameworks struggle to fully describe them,” Elkayam-Levy said.
The Commission ultimately coined a new term, ‘kinocidal sexual violence’ to describe “the deliberate use of sexual violence to torture families and maximize their pain and suffering,” according to Elkayam-Levy.
'We encountered silence'
Elkayam-Levy also spoke about the denial of Hamas’s sexual violence, condemning the worldwide reaction to the initial reports.
“We encountered silence, hesitation, and at times active and aggressive denial,” Elkayam-Levy said.
Elkayam-Levy warned that avoiding the reality of the report was not only harmful to the victims but to future generations.
“This report is not about the past. It is about the future. It reveals some of the most dangerous developments in contemporary terrorism,” Elkayam-Levy said, adding that other groups were already “studying, imitating, and refining” Hamas’ brutality.
Elkayam-Levy called on the UN to take action and recognize the report's findings, as well as to apply compassion without condition, to ensure that a double standard was not applied to Israeli women.
Executive Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer echoed Elkayam-Levy’s concern and condemnation of the UN’s double standard.
“Israeli victims did not receive compassion or protection from this system. Instead, they were exposed to the hatred that rages throughout the world and to the institutions that enable it,” Neuer said.
