The Forgotten Women of October 7
Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli woman, unwillingly has become a symbol of the violence that Hamas perpetrated against women on October 7, 2023. She was murdered at the Nova Music Festival. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities honored her story with a special dedication: The Song for Shani, composed and performed by musician Rocco Rosignoli. The UCEI emphasized that the piece “gives back a name, a face, and a story to a woman who was turned into a number, a symbol, a silence” and recounts “the moment when the music stopped and the celebration turned into tragedy.” The tribute is dedicated “to Shani and to all the women whose lives were cut short by violence. So that none of them will ever be forgotten.”
In Milan, the Union of Italian Young Jews (UGEI) delivered a similar message. On November 23, they brought the temporary exhibition Silenced Voices – Violence Against Israeli Women on October 7 to the central Piazza San Carlo. The exhibition aimed to draw attention to one of the most overlooked aspects of the massacre: the sexual violence committed during the terrorist attack.
The initiative denounced the use of sexual violence as a weapon aimed at attacking bodies and identities. Forensic evidence, videos circulated by the attackers, and eyewitness accounts together paint a picture of systematic brutality. “The crimes against Israeli women and girls on October 7 were not random acts, but rather, they were ordered and controlled violence,” explained Anna Tognotti, one of the promoters of the UGEI’s initiative for. “Faced with undeniable evidence, the silence of the United Nations is troubling and undermines the credibility of institutions.”
Organized with the Hostages’ Families Forum, the exhibition sought to break that silence. Its reception confirmed the need. “Many people stopped, moved by curiosity and solidarity,” said Tognotti. “This is a sign that this tragedy has not disappeared. It shows that a silent majority exists that supports the Jewish people.”
For a long time, the United Nations’ attitude toward the violence of October 7 remained ambiguous. After many months of silence, an official investigation acknowledged “reasonable grounds” to believe that rapes and other forms of sexual violence had been committed. This confirmed what journalists, forensic doctors, and Israeli NGOs had already documented. However, at the same time, some statements by UN representatives, including the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem, cast doubt on the existence of independent evidence, contradicting the organization’s own report.
In the public sphere, the issue has not always found space, either. In Italy and other Western countries, part of the feminist movement has not taken a position on October 7 systematic rapes. Jewish associations have repeatedly criticized this choice. In response, the Israeli Embassy in Italy launched the campaign “Defend All Women, Without Exception” for November 25. The campaign calls for acknowledging every victim of violence, regardless of their background. For International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the embassy’s appeal is to give “a voice to those who were forgotten or, worse, deliberately ignored simply because they were Israeli.”
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Translated by Matilde Bortolussi and revised by Alessia Tivan, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, trainees in the newsroom of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.