Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc., reaffirms and expands upon its January 2024 policy statement Condemning Gender-Based Violence.
Rape and sexual violence should never be used or sanctioned as a weapon of war. Not by Hamas against Israeli women and girls. Not by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Not in Myanmar or Sudan or The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Not anywhere. The United Nations verified and recorded 3,688 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2023, a 50 percent increase from 2022. This rise in violence is a significant and alarming step backwards for women and girls around the globe.
As a global humanitarian organization, Hadassah continues to speak out to end the silence on sexual violence and urges all people to join in that call to action. Hadassah is committed to countering the unconscionable denial of gender-based violence and to supporting investigation and consequences for entities that commit brutal acts of rape, sexual mutilation and sexual violence.
Hadassah is outraged by the biased UN Commission of Inquiry that ignored the overwhelming evidence and failed to hold Hamas responsible for its crimes against humanity, including the clear and systematic weaponization of sexual violence on October 7 and beyond. Hadassah continues to demand that the United Nations and leaders around the world call out Hamas’s systematic use of rape, sexual violence and sexual mutilation. Hamas must be held accountable in the pursuit of justice for victims and survivors, as well as for deterrence.
Hadassah calls on world leaders to demand action to counter the alarming rise in conflict-related sexual violence. Hadassah recognizes the United States’ leadership in denouncing these heinous crimes and developing action plans to address their use as tactics of war. Hadassah encourages the US to continue its leadership on this critical issue by working with the United Nations and others in the international community to hold perpetrators accountable for crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. We also call on the US to develop and disseminate best practices that all countries can use to respond to this violence, including standards for trauma-informed care, investigating reports, and documenting, handling and preserving evidence.