Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced Monday that Canada was providing $1 million to support victims of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas militants in Israel during the October 7 attacks.
The funding comes with an offer of support from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to conduct the investigations, three months after a group of women in political office in Canada asked Ottawa to provide this type of support .
Last week, a United Nations envoy said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas militants committed rape and “sexualized torture” during attacks in southern Israel on October 7.
Israeli women’s organizations have criticized their peers around the world for being slow to recognize sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas. Canada’s special envoy for preserving the memory of the Holocaust and combating anti-Semitism attributed the delay to anti-Jewish attitudes.
However, Israeli police say forensic evidence was not preserved in the chaos of the attacks and that Hamas killed many people who were allegedly victims of these sexual assaults — and who therefore can no longer testify.
Minister Joly is currently in Israel as part of a tour of the Middle East to advocate for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas.
“We believe Israeli women and we support them in their fight for justice,” Minister Joly wrote on social media.
“Today I met with Israel’s First Lady, Michal Herzog, to discuss the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7 and our support for survivors. »
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