“Women’s bodies were part of the battlefield. It demands a response,” Ayelet Razin Bet Or, an Israeli women’s rights expert says discussing the sexual violence that was an integral part of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Razin Bet Or, former director for Israel’s Authority for the Advancement and Status of Women in the Ministry of Social Equality, will be speaking in Winnipeg Jan. 24 about sexual and gender-based violence in the attacks. The event will take place at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and available for live viewing online.
For Razin Bet Or, the discussion will be an opportunity to dispel “any doubt” about the sexual abuse experienced by an estimated 50 women during the Hamas attack.
“People need to wake up and realize this happened, as hard as it is to comprehend,” she said of the reports of rape, sexual assault and genital mutilation that came from first-hand and eyewitness accounts, and from first responders.
“It’s not easy for people to hear, but it’s important for all to know,” she said, adding “this story needs to be told, we can’t look away from it.”
What was devastating for Razin Bet Or after the attack was the lack of support she felt from the worldwide feminist community.
“My heart was broken, it rattled my identity as a Jew and a feminist,” she said. “I thought I shared something with the worldwide sisterhood, with all women around the world. But many turned their backs on us… it’s very disappointing.”
What particularly hurt was hearing some feminists in other countries express doubt about the reports of violence against Israeli women.
“We were left alone, not believed,” she said, adding the experience “set the whole feminist movement back… the sense of sisterhood, the bond, is broken.”
In Canada, Susan Kim, a Victoria, B.C. city councillor and Ontario MPP Sarah Jama signed a letter doubting the veracity of women’s evidence about sexual assault on Oct. 7.
In October, Jama was censured by the Ontario legislature and removed from the NDP caucus. The director of the University of Alberta’s Sexual Assault Centre in Edmonton was fired for signing the letter.
Winnipeg lawyer and philanthropist Gail Asper is moderating the event. For her, the attack struck close to home.
“The daughter of a friend survived the attack on the music festival, hiding under the bodies of others in a bomb shelter,” she said, noting that only seven out of 30 in the shelter survived—two of the dead were the woman’s close friends, and a third was taken hostage.
“By chance she made it, she could have been raped and murdered,” Asper said, adding the young woman is “traumatized beyond belief and will never recover.”
For that reason, Asper said yes when asked to be part of the event.
“I’m doing this for my friend’s daughter’s sake, and for all the other women killed and injured in the attack,” said Asper. “I feel I have an obligation to help share the story.”
The event is an opportunity for Canadians to “understand the horrific violence committed by Hamas against women and girls… the level of viciousness was overwhelming. The world needs to know what Hamas did, condemn them and hold them accountable.”
The event will deal with “a very dark, ugly and brutal topic,” she said. “It’s not for the faint of heart, but we can’t shy away from it.”
Despite that, “we need to shine a light on what happened, on the shocking level of violence and misogyny against women,” she said. “Not just the Jewish community, but everyone. We all need to be witnesses by not forgetting the victims and their grieving families.”
“Hear Our Voices: Sexual and Gender Based Violence in The Oct. 7 Hamas Terror Attacks” will take place on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. CST. Admission is free, but attendees must register and are invited to make a donation to Jewish Child and Family Service. People who attend in person will be required to show government-issued identification. Click here to register for in-person or online.