Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) has historically been utilised by perpetrators in armed conflicts around the globe. Over the decades, devastating instances of these systemic atrocities have been documented in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, the Central African Republic, Iran, Kenya, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Uganda. More recently, this horrific pattern has persisted in contemporary conflicts across Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Ethiopia —all heavily exacerbated by the use of rape as a tactical weapon of war.
The October 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel introduced a deeply unsettling evolution to this history. The violence targeted individuals across 52 nationalities and claimed the lives of 1,200 people, including women and children. Perhaps even more horrific than the physical acts of SGBV themselves was their digital dissemination. Families frequently learned about the fates of their loved ones through graphic footage broadcast directly onto social media platforms and via the victims’ own digital accounts. The primary objective of this calculated dissemination was to instil widespread, psychological terror within the society at large.
A Comprehensive Inquiry
Following extensive research, the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children published a definitive report titled Silenced No More—Sexual Terror Unveiled: The Untold Atrocities of October 7 and Against Hostages in Captivity. Compiling more than 430 testimonies, over 1,800 hours of rigorous visual analysis, and thirteen documented patterns of violence, it stands as the most comprehensive record to date documenting these specific atrocities. Concurrently, it serves as a pioneering account of the international legal dimensions of SGBV in modern conflict.
The attackers actively celebrated their acts of SGBV, chanting religious slogans and filming their atrocities in real-time. The digital proliferation compounded the trauma inflicted upon the victims’ families
The Commission is led by eminent jurists, former UN prosecutors, and dedicated researchers of gender-based crimes. The Honourable Irwin Cotler (International Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) served as the Principal Contributor. Distinguished Contributors also included Professor David Crane (Founding Chief Prosecutor of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone), among other notable legal experts.
The findings complement several separate, official investigations—including reports by:
- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;
- The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel; and
- The United Nations Security Council’s Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.
All of these bodies independently concluded that systemic sexual crime and violence were carried out during the October 7 attacks and subsequently against hostages held in captivity.
Turning Visibility into an Asymmetric Weapon
The Civil Commission’s findings provide a meticulous, harrowing record of the violence inflicted upon the victims. Notably, the report observes that the attackers actively celebrated their acts of SGBV, chanting religious slogans and filming their atrocities in real-time.
The report categorises the crime scenes into civilian zones and military areas. While all sites subjected victims to identical techniques of fear, trauma, and profound humiliation, a distinct variation was discovered at the military bases: several bodies had been booby-trapped with explosives. This necessitated dangerous clearance operations by explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams before the victims could be respectfully prepared for burial.
Furthermore, the Civil Commission underlines how the public display and digital proliferation of these crimes turned visibility itself into an asymmetric weapon. This strategy deliberately prolonged and compounded the trauma inflicted upon the victims’ families. The overt messaging and religious phrases chanted by the perpetrators while celebrating these acts further signal an extreme, institutionalised level of ideological indoctrination.
The evidence firmly demonstrates that sexual and gender-based violence was deployed as a pre-planned, systematic terror strategy rather than a series of isolated, opportunistic incidents
Legal Repercussions and the Path Forward
Under the framework of international law, the actions committed by Hamas constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal acts. The evidence firmly demonstrates that SGBV was deployed as a pre-planned, systematic terror strategy rather than a series of isolated, opportunistic incidents—a distinction that demands urgent international prosecution.
| Dimensions of the October 7 Terror Strategy |
| Physical Tactics: Systematic SGBV, physical trauma, and booby-trapped casualties at military sites. |
| Digital Warfare: Hijacking victim accounts to live-stream atrocities and weaponise visibility. |
| Psychological Impact: Collective societal intimidation via low-cost digital amplification. |
The scale and unprecedented nature of these crimes call for robust, uncompromising international cooperation. There is a high probability that terrorist entities will replicate this hybrid strategy in future global conflicts unless targeted sanctions against the responsible individuals and state/non-state entities are swiftly implemented.
Another alarming issue highlighted by the report is the ease with which major digital platforms permitted this content to proliferate. Left unchecked, this passivity empowers global terrorist organisations to utilise low-cost technologies to intimidate entire populations.
By thoroughly documenting these systematic patterns of sexual violence, the report sheds vital light on atrocities that might otherwise be fragmented, minimised, or outright denied over time. In doing so, it marks a critical step toward ensuring these heinous acts are neither erased from historical memory nor excluded from our collective moral reckoning. Ultimately, it strengthens the factual baseline required for universal condemnation and immediate, ironclad legal accountability.
The writer is a Member of the Team Grey-Zone and Influence at the Irregular Warfare Initiative (USA). He holds a Master’s degree in National Security Studies from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, specialising in intelligence studies, irregular warfare, and the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
