UNITED NATIONS — Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and top technology executive Sheryl Sandberg are demanding that women’s groups and women everywhere condemn Hamas’ acts of sexual violence against Israeli women and girls on Oct. 7.
Israel has said it is investigating several cases of sexual assault and rape from the Hamas attack. Israel hosted a special event at the United Nations on Monday where Clinton, Gillibrand and Sandberg were among those who criticized what they called a global failure to support women who were raped, sexually assaulted and in some cases killed.
Clinton said in a video message, “It is outrageous that some who claim to stand for justice are closing their eyes and their hearts to the victims of Hamas.”
Sandberg, the former second-ranking official at Facebook who stepped down as chief operating officer of its parent Meta Platforms in August 2022, said “the silence on the crimes committed by Hamas is dangerous” because it threatens to undo decades of progress to confront sexual violence against women.
Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, said rape has been used as a weapon of war for centuries and more recently in former Yugoslavia, in Iran, and in Ukraine by Russian soldiers. She called on the U.N. to condemn “these evil crimes.” She said the international community “must demand accountability for these intolerable crimes.”
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