Tech executive and philanthropist Sheryl Sandberg believes her new documentary “Screams Before Silence,” in which she interviews female survivors who were sexually abused by members of Hamas on Oct. 7, is the most important work she’s ever done.
“I believe it is because women’s bodies need to be protected. Men’s bodies need to be protected,” Sandberg said in an interview with MSNBC. “Women should never be raped … and neither should men. We cannot let today’s politics make us blind to this.”
In the 60-minute film from director Anat Stalinsky, Sandberg talks to witnesses, first responders and forensic experts who have been present in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack. “Screams Before Silence,” also includes accounts from four women hostages who were sexually abused.
“She’s so brave,” Sandberg said of one of the documentary’s subjects, Amit Soussana. “She was chained in a room for weeks and she was sexually assaulted by her captor and she is telling her story now because there are still hostages there, and we know they’re being sexually assaulted, too. The important thing to remember here is that most of the victims of sexual assault are dead. They were killed on Oct. 7, and this documentary and brave people like Amit, their voices are all we have to remember these victims and make sure this never happens again.”
Sandberg said no matter what political stance you uphold, she feels everyone should condemn the act of rape.
“We are blind in this moment to what happened here,” Sandberg said. “The politics, they are making us not realize that sexual violence is not OK. Rape is never resistance, and this is one thing — no matter what else you think should happen in the Middle East — we can all be united in standing against.”
While sharing that she’s against the entire battle between Israel and Hamas, she broke down how rape has been used in war historically and the impact ignoring sexual violence will have on women globally.
“None of us should want war. But even if you believe what happened on Oct. 7 is resistance — and I don’t, I want to be clear — but even if you believe that, sexual violence is still not OK,” Sandberg said. “Because rape is never resistance, and people have to be able to see the truth here.”
She continued: “I think we have to recognize, until just 30 years ago rape was just considered part of war. It’s only been 30 years since Yugoslavia, Bosnia, the DRC, where rape started getting prosecuted as a war crime, as a crime against humanity. So in this moment — no matter what else we believe — we have to hold that and not turn a blind eye because if we backslide on rape, women all over the world lose.”
“Screams Before Silence” can be seen for free on YouTube or at ScreamsBeforeSilence.com. It was directed by Anat Stalinsky and executive produced by Joey Low, Meny Aviram and Eytan Schwartz.
