JWI's Remarks to Congress on the Sexual Violence of 10/7
On February 14, 2024, JWI CEO Meredith Jacobs delivered the following remarks in front of the Congressional Roundtable on the October 7th Gender Based Violence against Israeli Women
My name is Meredith Jacobs and I am CEO of Jewish Women International. We are the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls. So for us, this issue is deeply personal.
I want to first echo Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in saying loudly and unequivocally, “I believe Israeli women.”
While I want to use my time to propose potential responses and next steps, I want to begin by saying that when you intentionally rape, mutilate, and murder women and girls, you plot to destroy the future of a people.
In December, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, chair of Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes, was assured by Administration officials of the U.S. commitment to exercising all financial, diplomatic and legal tools to address sexual violence in conflict, including holding Hamas accountable.
It is time to put these words into action. Hamas ordered sexual violence be used as terrorism. There were U.S citizens among the victims and hostages.
Therefore, we ask Congress to urge the Dept. of Justice to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, those over whom the U.S. courts have jurisdiction, who aided, sanctioned or abetted the use of sexual violence as a weapon of terrorism.
Sexual violence was used everywhere the Hamas terrorists struck. It was designed to terrorize and traumatize the Israeli public. It is not only the survivors who need to heal, it is all of Israel. The rape crisis centers and counseling agencies are overwhelmed and under-resourced. They need our support to deal with the unspeakable trauma that the entire country is experiencing.
Therefore, we ask Congress to earmark funds for rape crisis centers and trauma treatment centers that exist and must be expanded in Israel.
Finally in addition to the unspeakable horrors inflicted upon the hostages, we understand from those who have been released that Hamas tells them over and over and over again that the world has forgotten them, the world does not care about them. What is so horrible in this moment is that in a way, the captors are right. The world has moved from silence to denial. Online disinformation campaigns denying that the rapes occurred, dismissing facts as Zionist propaganda prove the world has not only has forgotten, but that it does not care. These campaigns invalidate and deny the humanity of Israeli women – the victims and the survivors – and the horrific atrocities they endured and are enduring.
What is happening online is dangerous and lethal. In normal circumstances, survivors of sexual violence are shunned and shamed. What the survivors of Oct. 7th are now experiencing from the global campaign of distortion is unimaginable and will silence them.
Just as we cried out against those who would not speak up, we must now fight against those who intentionally spread hate and lies.
Therefore, we call on Congress to hold social media platforms accountable to implement and enforce policies against violent event denial and antisemitism.
Even further, we encourage the creation of a bipartisan, bicameral working group — that includes civil society organizations, academics, advocates, and the administration — to develop recommendations for changes to federal law to counter disinformation consistent with the First Amendment.
If we learned anything from the Holocaust it is that the world forgets and the world denies. We cannot allow what happened, what is happening to be erased.
For the women who died, for the women who will survive, we cannot, must not let what happened to them be forgotten. Ever.
Thank you.
Jewish Women International (JWI) is the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls domestically and internationally. JWI's National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence in the Jewish Community is the hub of resources, trainings, and research to support the field. It convenes The Collaborative, the network of all Jewish domestic violence agencies in the U.S. and established and hosts the Interfaith Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Clergy Task Force to End Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community. A Steering Committee member of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, JWI’s advocacy efforts focus on the passage of legislation that supports women and girls, ensures their economic security, and protects their right to live free of violence.