Testimony on Violence Against Women

Special Rapporteur, your report speaks of a violence against women.

Why is there no mention of Hamas?

On October 7, terrorists stormed our kibbutz, murdering, kidnapping, and burning.

They touched me and sensual abused me.

I was beaten and mutilated before blacking out.

I wake up half naked with seven terrorists standing over me,

not knowing what happened to me in those lost moments.

I went through days of pain and horror in captivity.

And even now, the feeling of being powerless and violated still lingers.

I came back with a broken hip, a broken jaw, and a scarred soul.

People see my face and think that I'm unfree.

But freedom is not a switch.

Trauma doesn't vanish once you are released.

Now, every air raid siren and every rocket from Iran throws me back into that hell.

On October 7, and in captivity, Jewish women were raped, abused, and humiliated.

And you, Special Rapporteur, you choose silence and denial.

Ms. Al-Salem, you say there was no evidence of sexual violence on October 7.

I'm standing here today not as a report, not as a statistic.

I am a woman who survived.

I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas.

When I, another Israel woman, begged not to be raped, why were you silent?

Please look at me. Do you believe us now?

Will you apologize?