UN findings on sexual violence committed by Hamas

Yes

.A MARCH FOR WOMEN SHOULD BE FOR ALL WOMEN.

I'm really sad that the International Women's Day march held in Whitworth Park in Manchester today is promoted as being in solidarity with Palestinian women, but with no mention of the victims of the October 7th attack or the hostages still held in Gaza. It just seems like the horrific ordeal these women suffered and continue to suffer is silenced. A march for women should be for all women.

Like others here I can't bear to think of the abuses which were, and most probably still are, being carried out on the women and children taken by Hamas.

I don't want anyone hurt on either side - the whole thing is horrific - but women's bodies become a battlefield in every war and it is brutal.

Isreal is right to continue to fight for them. And we shouldn't forget them either.

This.

Don't blame you.

I wonder how many of the people marching for hamas have spared a thought for these women and girls?

I haven't watched the video myself. (I didn't realise there was one - I'm not n Twitter/X - came across it by accident_

The reminder of how long these poor women have been trapped was enough to upset me.

I just didn't want them forgotten - it's too easy to put them aside when daily life is happening around us.

If it's all the same to you, I don't think I'll watch it. I can bear reading about it, but seeing it is too much.

I hope they are dead. The prospect of them still being alive is too horrifying.

From Twitter

https://twitter.com/RachelRileyRR/status/1765424699754926372?t=mypuYMTISAFT4mM-qVkJcQ&s=19

"Bring back our girls"

150 days.

Can you even begin to imagine what they have suffered?

Dare you?

Good that any such reports are investigated. If it's the UN doing the report, expect a grudging mealy-mouthed report around, let's see... August?

Well,that didn't last long, did it?

I mean the media focus on the mealy-mouthed, begrudging, belated UN report affirming that women were raped, murdered and tortured on 7 October. It didn't even get a day's worth of attention - the current main story from this area is about allegations of maltreatment of men who are detainees/prisoners - a very serious issue, no doubt at all about that, but the why focus on this news story to the exclusion of the report on proven sexual violence against women, on the very day the report was published?

For example, Channel 4 news last night gave over a large segment of the programme to the abuse of male prisoners/detainees, but appeared not to even mention the report about sexual violence on 7 October (I'm open to correction, in case I somehow missed it). Using one valid story to 'trump', conceal or neutralize another valid story is cynical and offensive. Classic whataboutery, instead of honest objective reporting of the human suffering on all sides in a conflict.

I've just scrolled back through several pages on the Channel 4 News website. I counted 19 items on the Israel-Hamas war. No mention of the UN report on the rape, torture, killing of women. Women who clearly don't matter much, if at all, in many newsrooms.

Like others here I can't bear to think of the abuses which were, and most probably still are, being carried out on the women and children taken by Hamas.

I don't want anyone hurt on either side - the whole thing is horrific - but women's bodies become a battlefield in every war and it is brutal.

Isreal is right to continue to fight for them. And we shouldn't forget them either.

Meanwhile, Hamas has declared that they know no sexual violence has been perpetrated on the hostages, while simultaneously not knowing whether or not they are still alive.

As with Ofcourseshecan, I cannot unsee the behaviour of men towards women (and men) at the beginning of this episode, or forget the plight of the hostages.

The ones who are still being held, they could be six months gone now with their rapists child.

The statement from the UN seems very mealy mouthed.

Absolutely. I’ve stepped away from paying attention and engaging in discussion, partly because of the amount of disinformation being shared. That initial footage was enough for me. From the perpetrators, shared and celebrated as success.

Yes, just awful - made worse IMHO by the denials/ minimisation that followed from some quarters. My heart breaks for those poor young women and those still held captive.
I hope this thread can remain a place to talk about this report and these dreadful crimes against innocent women but anyone who has spent more than 5 mins on the Conflict in the ME boards will have seen how this is likely to go.

Thank you for posting this and the comments so far.

I think some people have almost forgotten about the hostages who are still being held. And I agree with @Ofcourseshecan about the open celebration of sexual violence.

No shit Sherlock.

I am appalled it's taken this long.

Anyone who saw the footage that night and the next was in no doubt what happened.

And yes, the pattern of undressing and restraining victims “may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence”

What can I say...

The first news I had of the Hamas attacks was of a young woman's broken body being paraded, to an admiring crowd, by a bunch of Hamas men who were openly defiling her corpse. (Christ, I hope she was already dead at that point, I mean I know her name was later listed among the dead.)

That wasn't secret footage smuggled out to show what scum they are. That was their own publicity. They were proud of it. Like the snuff movies Islamic State used to recruit people who'd like to torture and kill prisoners.

That coloured my entire view of the ensuing disaster in Gaza. I can't unsee what the crowd was cheering.