Claims of Israeli sexual assault of Palestinian women are credible, UN panel says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/claims-of-israeli-sexual-assault-of-palestinian-women-are-credible-un-panel-says

Claims of Israeli sexual assault of Palestinian women are credible, UN panel says

Experts report evidence of rape, sexual humiliation and threats of rape against girls and women

Julian Borger in Washington
Thu 22 Feb 2024 14.12 EST

UN experts say they have seen “credible allegations” that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assaults, including rape, while in Israeli detention, and are calling for a full investigation. The panel of experts said there was evidence of a least two cases of rape, alongside other cases of sexual humiliation and threats of rape. Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said the true extent of sexual violence could be significantly higher.

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She noted that reticence in reporting sexual assault was common because of the fear of reprisals against victims. She said that in a wave of detentions of Palestinian women and girls after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October, there was an increasingly permissive attitude towards sexual assault in Israeli detention centres.

“I would say that, on the whole, violence and dehumanisation of Palestinian women and children and civilians has been normalised throughout this war,” Alsalem said.

There was evidence of widespread sexual violence by Hamas against Israeli women and girls during the 7 October raid in southern Israel. The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel has reported that the use of rape and other abuse by the Hamas attackers was “systematic and intentional”. Those assaults, which were also condemned by Alsalem and the other UN experts, are to be the subject of a report by the UN secretary general’s special envoy on sexual violence, Pramila Patten.

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