As the world stepped into 2025, an era dominated by artificial intelligence and technological advancements, the fundamental concept of human rights continues to be buried deeper into oblivion. While global narratives celebrate progress and liberal values, the stark reality is a world increasingly divided, where the North thrives on the blood and bones of the South and the latter is left to drown in an ever-deepening pool of suffering.
Whoever stays until the end will tell the story.
Dr. Mahmud Abu Nujaila
Genocide—once deemed a relic of humanity’s darkest ages—not only persists but evolves as a calculated geopolitical weapon. No longer the chaotic brutality of ancient warfare, it has become an insidious strategy wielded by the powerful to secure dominance. Among the countless atrocities that define genocide, one of the most heinous and enduring is genocidal rape.
The Female Body as a Warzone
In the calculus of genocide, the bodies of women serve as both tools and targets. To the oppressor, their existence is deemed different, inferior, and expendable. Their wombs, capable of continuing a lineage deemed undesirable by the colonizer, become battlegrounds. The intent is clear: to erase a people by violating their mothers.
But when did genocidal rape begin? The term may be contemporary, but the act itself is as ancient as war. Rape has long been a weapon to fracture societies, dehumanize victims, and obliterate identities. It is not just an act of physical violence but an ideological assault on the very fabric of a people’s existence.
The first legal classification of genocidal rape emerged in the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The Bosnian genocide alone bore witness to 30,000 to 50,000 cases of forced imprisonment campaigns. Holocaust scholar Joan Ringelheim termed sexual violence a “soul murder,” equating it to the destruction of identity itself.
The Systematic Strategy Behind Genocidal Rape
Genocidal rape is not random—it is meticulously crafted to dismantle societies. Its devastating effects manifest in three primary ways:
- Stigmatization: In conservative cultures, particularly within Muslim societies, a raped woman often becomes a pariah. No longer seen as suitable for marriage, she is cast aside, deepening the psychological scars of violence.
- Prevention of Births: The widespread rape of women creates generational trauma, deterring reproduction. Women who survive these assaults often find themselves ostracized, making it less likely they will bear children within their own communities.
- Biological Warfare: The deliberate spread of HIV/AIDS through rape is another cruel layer of this strategy, ensuring that both physical and psychological wounds persist for generations.
The perpetrators of these atrocities study the social, religious, and psychological structures of their victims, striking where it hurts the most. Violence, in this context, can be categorized into three forms: systematic, structural, and cultural—each reinforcing the other to dismantle a people’s identity from within.
Gaza: A Modern-Day Testament to Genocidal Rape
The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a chilling embodiment of these tactics. Israel’s military campaign has gone beyond conventional warfare, weaponizing the human body itself. By targeting the reproductive capacities of Palestinian women, the Zionist regime strategically seeks to erase Arab identity.
Neoconservative strategies have long advocated for breaking societies through sexual violence. The humiliation and dehumanization of Palestinian men and boys—documented cases of systematic rape—mirror the grotesque horrors of Abu Ghraib. According to UN statistics, as of March 2024, 872 men and 26 boys have been subjected to sexual violence as a war tactic.
The silence of the international community only emboldens the perpetrators. While the world protests, neoconservative and Zionist forces continue to extend their grip—not just on the land of Palestine but on the very bodies of its people. And yet, amidst the unspeakable suffering, one truth remains unwavering: Palestine will rise again.
Voices of Resistance
Through bloodshed and horror, a steadfast belief persists—freedom will come. The world may turn a blind eye, but the voices of the oppressed will not be silenced:
They can snatch my olive trees,
They can loot my land,
They can snatch my hijab,
They can strip me on my own land,
They can eat my flesh with their monstrous hands,
They can behead my baby with their guns inflicting pangs,
They can snatch my pride and put me in their tents,
Though I am tired and afraid of losing what I have,
But they can’t snatch my resolve, because I belong to Palestine.