Hamas uses rape “as a weapon of war”, says the lawyer of the AV7 collective

On the morning of Friday December 1, a rally took place in Paris to denounce “the silence of international and feminist organizations” on the rapes committed by the Hamas during the attack of October 7. A gathering in which Mélanie participated Pauli-Geyssespokesperson for the “Rape is rape” associationattacking the UN and the “All of Us” collective by name. “These are organizations that are supposed to defend all women universally, and unfortunately, they have been very silent or too anecdotal about the comments they could make”, believes Mélanie Pauli-Geysse. If these organizations “did not speak, it was up to us to speak”she adds in the 19/20 info.

“A silence a little too long”

“There was a silence that was a little too long, sometimes a minimization and, in the worst cases, a form of justification by some of this sexual violence”continues Rachel-Flore Pardolawyer and member of the collective AV7 (victims association of October 7). “Rape is used by some, and notably by Hamas, as a weapon of war”affirms the lawyer of this collective, who adds in the 19/20 info that “Rape, more than all other acts of torture, is a crime of defilement, of humiliation, which seeks to traumatize not only the victim, but perhaps also, often, an entire nation”.