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Gender-Based Violence in Demonstrations

>> Read the full policy paper in pdf

This policy paper examines how the Israel Police employ violence with distinct gendered characteristics to suppress protests led by women. This occurs against the backdrop of the prominent involvement of women in the anti-government demonstrations, particularly specific groups of women as well as mothers and partners of hostages, which has been a defining feature of the waves of protest since early 2023.

The document is based primarily on reports and testimonies published in the Alimut Israel database. Drawing on these reports, our analysis identified five distinct practices through which gender-based violence is used to suppress protest:
  

  • Blatant sexual violence during demonstrations
  • Sexual and gender-based degradation
  • Body searches and forced stripping of female demonstrators during arrests
  • Questioning of their motherhood
  • Physical violence with severe consequences due to women’s greater physiological vulnerabilityThese are not random incidents: the gender-based violence directed at female protesters is political and systematic. This can be inferred from the similar characteristics of the cases, the increase in the prevalence of certain types of violence during specific periods, and the connection between these forms of violence against women protesters in Israel and similar practices documented around the world.Violence directed at protesters, men and women alike, deters citizens from participating in demonstrations. Sexual violence against female protesters is an especially powerful deterrent due to its uniquely traumatic nature. Moreover, police conduct that questions the normativity and legitimacy of women’s protest reinforces existing social inequalities, which already result in fewer women than men taking part in civic and public struggles, and may further reduce women’s active participation in the democratic sphere.Therefore, this paper proposes several policy recommendations aimed at preventing gender-based violence:
  • Prohibit strip-searches of individuals arrested for the offense of disturbing the public peace during a demonstration.
  • Require authorization from a police officer holding the rank of superintendent or higher for conducting bodily searches in non-felony offenses, along with mandatory written documentation.
  • Mandate an annual report to the Knesset’s National Security Committee detailing the number of sexual-assault complaints filed each year against police officers and specifying the steps taken in each case, with a separate category for incidents occurring during demonstrations.
  • Increase punishment for an indecent act committed through the abuse of policing authority so that it should carry double the penalty prescribed for this type of offense.
  • Add sexual assault or harassment of civilians to the list of disciplinary offenses enumerated in the Israel Police Commissioner’s Directives.
  • Introduce mandatory training for police officers on sexual harassment in civil protest events.
  • Require a gender impact assessment, prepared by the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women under Article 6C2 of the Equal Rights for Women Law-1951, for all legislative discussions concerning policing at demonstrations.

Collection and Processing of Testimonies from Alimut Israel Project: Liora Nir

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.