WIZO brings sexual violence evidence to UN Congress
WIZO calls for accountability at UN congress over Hamas’ sexual violence on October 7 and against hostages.
World WIZO president Anat Vidor has led a delegation to the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi, where the organisation convened an official side event on accountability for sexual violence committed during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack and against hostages in captivity.
The event, “Responding to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in the Digital Age”, brought together international legal, professional and technological expertise.
According to WIZO, the panel focused on documenting and preserving evidence for future prosecutions, countering denial and disinformation, and the possible use of AI to preserve survivors’ testimony.
Panellists included Israeli legal experts and a Ukrainian lawyer specialising in wartime sexual violence.
The event was initiated by WIZO’s representative to the United Nations in Vienna, Dr Hava Bugajer, and brought together The Dinah Project, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (IJL), JurFem and Generative AI for Good.
The side event was the centre of a three-day WIZO working mission to the United Arab Emirates, involving members of WIZO federations from around the world.
The mission also focused on the relationship between Israel and the Gulf and on Jewish life in the Emirates, with partners including the Embassy of Israel in the United Arab Emirates, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Abu Dhabi and the World Jewish Congress (WJC).
In a letter to supporters ahead of the event, Vidor said the issue had been “at the heart of our international work since October 7”.
“Our objective is clear: to ensure that the crimes committed against Israeli women on October 7, and the broader issue of conflict-related sexual violence, cannot be ignored, minimized or pushed to the margins of the international agenda,” she said.
“The purpose is not another one-hour statement. It is to place Israeli experience within a wider international legal conversation and to move from testimony to evidence, accountability and justice … The Abraham Accords opened a new regional reality. Governments opened the door. The next challenge is to give those agreements depth through relationships between people, communities and civil society.”
The congress is held every five years. WIZO has held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1959.
“This is where the reach of WIZO becomes influence: an international platform creates relationships, and our federations carry those relationships forward in their own countries and communities,” Vidor said.
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