Statement%20on%20the%20Evidence%20of%20Sexualized%20Violence%20on%20Oct%207%20-%20Google%20Docs

This information is often difficult to obtain due to the inaccessibility of conflict regions, the murder of the people subjected to CRSV, the lack of witnesses, the trauma of survivors, the unpreparedness of emergency personnel, and the general chaos that accompanies conflict situations. [...] Given the difficulty in collecting evidence and forming a broad picture of the nature of sexualized violence on October 7, some of the slowness of outside observers to respond can be explained by the n eed to better understand the confusing information that was being released, particularly in the context of the heavy use of state propaganda by Netanyahu’s government. [...] About one third of the article is devoted to the story of Gal Abdush, a victim of the October 7 attacks who, after a video of her circulated the internet, became known as the “woman in the black dress.” The NYT has verified the video and summarised Abdush’s condition as “ dress torn, legs spread, and vagina exposed. [...] The NYT article offered one of the most comprehensive understandings of the evidence of sexualized violence at the time and affirmed the necessity that these testimonies be taken seriously. [...] Some of the fact patterns s uggested by e yewitnesses t o sexual violence o n October 7, such as gang rapes, the presence of laughter and play among perpetrators during rape and m urder, and t he targeting of symbols o f the life force (breasts and genitalia) for abuse, would be strong evidence of genocidal ideation on the part of the people committing the atrocities.