Sexual Terror Unveiled: The Untold Atrocities of October 7 and Against Hostages in Captivity
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After a two-year independent investigation, the Civil Commission reaches a clear conclusion:
Sexual and gender-based violence was systematic, widespread, and integral to the October 7 attack and their aftermath.
Why This Report Matters
This report is the first to systematically assemble, verify, and analyze the evidence on sexual and gender-based violence during the attacks and in captivity, drawing on a uniquely constructed and independently secured war crimes archive.
What emerges is not a collection of isolated incidents, but a coherent and repeated pattern of violence, carried out across multiple locations and phases, from the initial attacks, through abduction and transfer, to prolonged captivity and the deliberate digital circulation of abuse.
For the first time, these crimes can be understood in their full scope, structure, and operational logic and documented in a way that establishes a clear foundation for accountability.
Across homes, roads, shelters, the Nova music festival, military bases, and during captivity in Gaza, Hamas and its collaborators used sexual violence as a widespread and systematic tactic. These were not isolated incidents. They followed recurring, organized patterns across multiple locations and phases of the attack, including during abduction, transfer, and prolonged captivity.
About the Report
Silenced No More presents the most comprehensive evidentiary record to date of the sexual atrocities committed on October 7 and during captivity.
Developed over two years, the report is based on a uniquely constructed and independently secured war crimes archive. It provides the first systematic, case-based account of these crimes, tracing sexual violence across the full continuum of events, from the attacks themselves, through abduction and transfer, to prolonged captivity and the continued digital circulation of abuse.
The findings establish that sexual violence was not incidental, it was deliberate, coordinated, and embedded in the attack itself.
The Evidence
The Commission’s findings are grounded in an unprecedented body of reviewed documentation:
- Over 10,000 photographs and video segments
- More than 1,800 hours of visual material
- 430+ testimonies and interviews with survivors, witnesses, released hostages, experts, and family members
- Victims from 52 nationalities, in addition to Israeli victims
Because the Commission began collecting evidence immediately after the attacks, the archive preserves materials that are no longer publicly available, including original footage, communications, and testimonies that were later removed or lost.
All materials were systematically logged, coded, and cross-referenced across time and location, and analyzed using geolocation-supported datasets, expert consultation, and interdisciplinary review. The investigation was conducted in accordance with internationally recognized standards, applying trauma-informed and survivor-centered methodologies guided by the principle of “do no harm.”
This rigorous approach enabled the Commission not only to document individual incidents, but to identify patterns, reconstruct events, and establish a coherent evidentiary record that could not previously be seen in its entirety.
Systematic Patterns of Violence
The investigation identified 13 recurring forms of sexual and gender-based violence across multiple sites.
These include:
- Rape and gang rape
- Sexual torture and mutilation
- Forced nudity
- Executions linked to sexual violence
- Postmortem sexual abuse
- Sexual assaults carried out in the presence of family members
The repetition of these patterns demonstrates that the crimes were not isolated acts of brutality, but part of a broader operational method used during the attack and its aftermath.
In documented cases, victims were abused in front of relatives. In at least one case, family members were coerced into acts of sexual violence against one another.
The Commission defines this as kinocidal sexual violence, violence deliberately designed to destroy family structures by weaponizing familial bonds.
Weaponization of Visibility
A defining feature of the October 7 atrocities was the deliberate use of digital media as part of the violence itself.
Perpetrators recorded, livestreamed, and distributed acts of abuse and torture through social media and victims’ own digital accounts. In many cases, families first learned of the fate of their loved ones through images and videos sent by perpetrators.
These acts were designed not only to harm victims, but to terrorize families, communities, and society at large, transforming individual acts of violence into instruments of psychological warfare.
The continued circulation of this material prolongs trauma, undermines recovery, and extends the impact of the attacks far beyond the original acts.
Legal Findings
Based on this body of evidence, the Commission concludes that these acts constitute:
- War crimes
- Crimes against humanity
- Genocidal acts under international law
The report further identifies conduct amounting to torture, sexual slavery, persecution, and terrorism-linked sexual and gender-based violence.
The scale, coordination, and repetition of the conduct demonstrate a widespread and systematic attack against civilians, in which sexual violence was deliberately used as a method of terror.
Accountability
The report provides a clear evidentiary and legal roadmap for prosecution.
It outlines pathways to hold accountable:
- Direct perpetrators
- Those who planned, ordered, or enabled the crimes
- Actors who facilitated or amplified the violence
It calls for specialized prosecutorial mechanisms grounded in gender competence, survivor-centered approaches, and trauma-informed practices, and emphasizes the need for coordinated international action.
Why This Matters
Many victims did not survive. Others continue to live with severe physical and psychological trauma.
This report serves both a legal and historical function:
- Preserving evidence
- Establishing a definitive record
- Supporting future investigations and prosecutions
At its core, it is an act of documentation, accountability, and remembrance, ensuring that these crimes are neither denied, minimized, nor forgotten, and that those affected are silenced no more.
“For two years, we have listened to survivors, examined the evidence, and confronted material that is often beyond comprehension. This report establishes that sexual violence was not incidental — it was systematic, deliberate, and embedded in the attack itself. Documenting these crimes is essential to give voice to victims and ensure their stories are not erased.”
— Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Founder and Chair, The Civil Commission
We dedicate this report to all the victims and survivors of the sexual atrocities committed on October 7 and in captivity, those whose names appear within these pages and those who remain in the shadows but are no less present in our hearts.
Fuente: https://www.civilc.org/silenced-no-more