Gender-based violence increases in Israel since October 7

Sexual and domestic violence in Israel has increased since October 7, as legal experts have pushed to prosecute perpetrators – including Hamas terrorists.

In 2024, 36 women in Israel were murdered by men in incidents of gender-based violence, according to a leading expert in the field. 

Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, who was in the UK with Jewish Women’s Aid, as part of her mission to ensure justice for the victims of sexual violence on October 7, told the JC that a record-high number of femicides in Israel “is to be expected in times of war and tension”, explaining: "The sense of insecurity very often increases violent reactions – so there is a rise in insecurity and violence throughout society.”

The violence against women in domestic settings in Israel comes amid devastating reports of violence against hostages in Hamas tunnels and on October 7.

Halperin-Kaddari has long been on the frontline of the fight against male violence towards women. She served for 12 years on the United Nations committee overseeing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and now leads the Dinah Project 7/10, which collects evidence to support prosecutions for sexual violence committed on October 7. 

Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari is working to ensure that the perpetrators of sexual violence on October 7 are prosecuted[Missing Credit]

As director of the Rackman Centre, which works to end gender-based discrimination in Israel, the professor pointed to the government’s post-October 7 easing of firearm licensing as a factor exacerbating severe violence.

Her team has been advocating for stricter screening processes to prevent domestic abusers from obtaining weapons. “We're trying to pass regulation to mandate a preliminary screening by the welfare authorities before allowing a license to carry a weapon. Survivors of domestic violence have told us that their partners or former husbands are eligible to carry guns.”

Visiting Britain was important for Halperin-Kaddari, who was interviewed by journalist Deborah Joseph at the JWA event, where the Sheryl Sandberg film Screams Before Silence was screened.

Halperin-Kaddari said that the UK played a significant role in tackling conflict-related sexual violence through its Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI): “The PSVI started an international protocol for countries to adopt when confronting the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.”

The Dinah Project 7/10 has collected extensive evidence of sexual violence from October 7, including photographs and witness statements. Gathering evidence of such crimes in conflict zones is always challenging, but Halperin-Kaddari said that an added difficulty with October 7 has been the international response. “The extent of the ongoing denialism and the levels of denial are far greater than we have seen elsewhere.”

She criticised UN Women’s response to October 7; for over 50 days following the brutal sexual violence carried out by Hamas, UN Women were silent.

She also highlighted the lack of recognition given to survivor’s accounts. One released hostage, Amit Susana, publicly shared her experience of sexual abuse by Hamas while in captivity – but it took months for the UN to recognise her testimony. 

Former hostage Amit Soussana said she was sexually assaulted by Hamas during her Gaza captivity (Image: Getty)Getty Images

In October 2024, Susana addressed the General Assembly at the UN alongside survivors of sexual violence from Nigeria, Ukraine, and Myanmar.

“There she stood, a survivor from Israel. In terms of seeking recognition and setting the record straight in achieving historical justice, this was a powerful moment.”

Halperin-Kaddari is hoping to use the events of October 7 as a test case for changing how sexual violence cases are prosecuted and the Dinah Project 7/10 is working to ensure that charges of sexual violence are included in legal proceedings against Hamas terrorists.

She is also pushing for a “paradigm shift” in prosecuting sexual violence in conflict. Traditional evidentiary standards, she argued, were inadequate for addressing mass atrocities and must evolve to reflect the collective nature of such crimes.

“The prosecution must start from an understanding that this was a genocidal attack, with the intent of complete destruction,” she said, adding that rape, “the cheapest crime available”, is used as a weapon against entire communities.

“When rape is used as a weapon of war, it is not to violate the specific victim, but the whole collective and nation through that specific victim.

“Everybody who participated in that attack should be held responsible for everything that happened during that attack, even if there is no possibility to prove that a certain terrorist was the one who raped a specific victim - that is hardly ever possible to prove.

“In cases of mass atrocities, it's never possible to prove the individual's specific involvement in a particular crime. But that's not how these crimes should be litigated. If the legal world still sticks to these traditional notions of procedures and evidentiary rules, then there's never going to be accountability for these types of crimes.”

Although this approach faces challenges, she warned against allowing terrorist organisations to act with impunity.

She pointed to a recent incident in the Congo, where violent rebel forces allegedly raped more than 100 female prisoners before setting a prison on fire, as an example of how such atrocities persist globally with inadequate international response. 

The professor also acknowledged reports of violence against Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces but she rejected comparisons with what she described as Hamas’ systemic use of sexual violence. Unlike Hamas, Halperin-Kaddari said, Israeli authorities investigated and prosecuted offenders.

“There's absolutely no basis to draw symmetry. Israeli legal authorities are investigating. Just this week, an IDF soldier admitted to using violence against a Palestinian detainee [and he] was convicted and received a prison term, which is incomparable to the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. There's absolutely no accountability there.”