[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 206 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6001-S6002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 505--CONDEMNING THE USE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND RAPE 
 AS A WEAPON OF WAR BY THE TERRORIST GROUP HAMAS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF 
                                 ISRAEL

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mrs. Britt, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. Fischer, 
Mr. Fetterman, Ms. Collins, Mr. Casey, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. 
King, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Murphy, 
Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Kaine, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Warner, Ms. Rosen, Ms. 
Hassan, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Peters) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 505

       Whereas on October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization 
     Hamas--
       (1) attacked communities, military installations, and a 
     music festival in southern Israel;
       (2) killed approximately 1,200 people; and
       (3) seized more than 200 hostages;

       Whereas evidence that emerged in the first days after such 
     attacks indicates that Hamas fighters deliberately used 
     sexual violence against women and children;
       Whereas Israeli police have gathered evidence from more 
     than 1,500 women and men in Israel--
       (1) who reported being sexually assaulted during such 
     attacks;
       (2) who were witness to such sexual assaults; or
       (3) whose sexual assaults have been medically documented;

       Whereas while gender-based violence is prevalent in many 
     conflict settings--
       (1) such violence is almost always severely underreported 
     during and after a conflict; and
       (2) the United Nations estimates that, in conflict areas, 
     for every rape that is reported, between 10 and 20 cases of 
     sexual violence are not reported;

       Whereas the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas 
     Against Women And Children, which seeks to document the 
     sexual and gender-based atrocities committed on October 7, 
     2023, reported that it is unable to accurately estimate the 
     number of such victims in part because many of them were 
     killed during the Hamas attacks;
       Whereas the victims of the deliberate use of sexual 
     violence as a weapon to wage war against Israel are men and 
     women of all ages, including children, teenagers, and the 
     elderly;
       Whereas eyewitness testimony reports that women at the 
     Tribe of Nova music festival were gang-raped, tortured, 
     mutilated, and executed;
       Whereas Israeli officials have documented extensive sexual 
     abuse of corpses;
       Whereas reports from released hostages held by Hamas for 
     more than a month indicate that women and men were subjected 
     to sexual violence while in captivity;
       Whereas the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of 
     Civilian Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 
     1949 (commonly referred to as the ``Fourth Geneva 
     Convention'') recognizes rape in conflict settings as a war 
     crime; and
       Whereas sexual violence is used in many conflict settings 
     as a tool to humiliate, control, oppress, and defeat women 
     and the communities to which they belong: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors the memories of all the victims of the October 
     7, 2023, terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas, including 
     those who were victims of sexual violence, and stands with 
     the survivors, their families, and the families of all the 
     deceased;
       (2) condemns in the strongest terms the deliberate use of 
     gender-based violence against women and children in Israel 
     during the terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023;
       (3) calls upon the international community--
       (A) to prioritize the elimination of gender-based violence 
     in conflict settings;
       (B) to respond to the testimonials of victims and recognize 
     and condemn gender-based violence in conflict settings as 
     soon as it is reported; and
       (C) to take every possible step to end the widespread use 
     of rape as a weapon of war;
       (4) demands accountability for the perpetrators of rape as 
     a weapon of war and justice for their victims; and
       (5) stands with the women and girls of Israel, the victims 
     of the heinous attacks of October 7, and all who have 
     suffered rape as a weapon of war.

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