On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Rolene Marks had a heartrending plea to the hundreds of people who attended a virtual event titled Stop the Violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs our hostage plight fades from the minds of the world, we plead to you, be the voices of our hostages,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know what our women and girls are enduring \u2013 they\u2019ve been sexually violated and continue to be violated. The impact on their mental health is unfathomable. Don\u2019t let your government or the world forget that there are 101 hostages and we need them home now. We are a devastated nation, deep in trauma. Unless we get them home, this will be a wound that will never, ever heal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marks, a South African-Israeli consultant and journalist, was one of two panelists interviewed by Dana Levenson on Nov. 25 in a virtual event organized by CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO), Na\u2019amat Canada, Momentum Canada, Canadian Women Against Antisemitism and National Council of Jewish Women of Canada. She was joined by Jay Rosenzweig, a lawyer dedicated to advancing safety for women, in speaking out about violence and femicide.<\/p>\n
Globally, in 2023, a woman was killed every 10 minutes. In 2022, 133 women or girls were killed daily by someone in their own family. And one in every three women experiences\u00a0 <\/span>physical or sexual violence in their lives. But statistics don\u2019t resonate, Marks insisted. People remember stories, not numbers.<\/p>\n Both panelists said the silence from the United Nations and the media with respect to the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against women in Israel is \u2013 and continues to be \u2013 deplorable. Marks said that, in October 2024, when members of the foreign press visited the sites decimated by Hamas terrorists, she saw a complete lack of empathy. \u201cIt was like they were ticking something off their to-do list by being there. They\u2019ve completely lost any impetus to report and tell the truth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s possible to \u201cfell an elephant with a mosquito,\u201d she continued, citing an African proverb. \u201cWe\u2019re not powerless or voiceless. We need to become that mosquito, to demand that journalists employ the ethics of good journalism. We\u2019ve got the law and ombudsmen there to adjudicate, and we need to make use of the tools available to us, remembering that every one of us has power.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosenzweig said members of the Jewish community need to do more in leveraging technology to confront injustice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can do better when it comes to communicating online, because technology and the digital world can be a neutralizer,\u201d he said. \u201cDialoging outside of our community can also help turn the tide, so we should be reaching outside the Jewish community to find commonality with other communities, for example the Indigenous community. We can find common cause with them by speaking as one indigenous people to another.\u201d<\/p>\n Marks suggested participants host screenings of the documentary Screams Before Silence<\/i>. She encouraged younger members of the community to get involved by \u201cadopting a hostage\u201d or a victim of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and becoming familiar with their lives.<\/p>\n \u201cBy making those stories very personal, it is easier to share with others and to connect with peers from other communities,\u201d she said. \u201cTell the stories of Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa and the other girls being held hostage. They are stories of teenagers who went to dance for peace, and our teenagers can connect to these people. These stories help to humanize us as a people at a time when dehumanization is so pervasive.\u201d<\/p>\n