Using Oct. 7 lessons, Israel leading global efforts to create guide for documenting sexual violence in terror attacks

The Foreign Ministry is developing an international guide to help emergency responders document evidence of sexual and gender-based crimes at the scenes of terrorist attacks.

Israel is joined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Germany and Switzerland, as well as Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Centre, the Foreign Ministry says.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Israel is leading efforts on the guide, which “aims to provide medical personnel, police officers and emergency volunteers with practical tools to document these crimes and preserve evidence that can help bring perpetrators to justice, while safeguarding survivors’ safety, dignity and privacy and ensuring appropriate care and support.”

International aid organizations are expected to start using it in the coming months.

According to the ministry, the guide is inspired by the work of Prof. Yifat Bitton, president of Achva Academic College, which delves into the lessons of sexual violence perpetrated during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault and other terror attacks.

A meeting was held in Abuja, Nigeria, in October to bring together those working on the guide.

“The bitter experience of October 7 and the world’s disregard for the crimes Hamas committed against Israeli women and men underscored for me the importance of coming to Nigeria as well, unequivocally condemning the terrorism of Boko Haram and other organizations, including brutal sexual and gender-based crimes, and standing in solidarity with survivors and victims,” says Sarah Weiss Ma’udi, Israel’s Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security, who represented the Foreign Ministry in Abuja.