Israeli Women Held Hostage by Hamas

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) chief Sima Bahous opened the organization’s annual “16 Days of Activism” campaign with a speech in which she described the myriad threats that women face internationally: in Haiti, for example, “where women face gang violence including pervasive sexual violence”; in Sudan, “where reports of mass rape have become the norm”; in Ukraine, “where women are increasingly first responders, yet receive minimal funding.” The 16-day campaign is “an opportunity to revitalize commitments, call for accountability and action from decision-makers,” UN Women says. And it exists to hold “perpetrators accountable and [establish] zero tolerance of violence against women and girls.”

Women and girls are also in danger in the Middle East, Bahous added in her speech, “in Lebanon, in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Gaza, where women and girls are being bombarded, killed, and living on the brink of famine.” Women, she said, “are still being held hostage in Gaza.” “The war and the killing must end, the hostages must be released, and aid must reach those who need it.”

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Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

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United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) chief Sima Bahous opened the organization’s annual “16 Days of Activism” campaign with a speech in which she described the myriad threats that women face internationally: in Haiti, for example, “where women face gang violence including pervasive sexual violence”; in Sudan, “where reports of mass rape have become the norm”; in Ukraine, “where women are increasingly first responders, yet receive minimal funding.” The 16-day campaign is “an opportunity to revitalize commitments, call for accountability and action from decision-makers,” UN Women says. And it exists to hold “perpetrators accountable and [establish] zero tolerance of violence against women and girls.”

Women and girls are also in danger in the Middle East, Bahous added in her speech, “in Lebanon, in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Gaza, where women and girls are being bombarded, killed, and living on the brink of famine.” Women, she said, “are still being held hostage in Gaza.” “The war and the killing must end, the hostages must be released, and aid must reach those who need it.”