Speaker: Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari
Founding Academic Director, Rackman Centre for Advancement of Womens’ Status,
Bar Ilan University.
The Dina 7/10 Project was formed on an ad hoc basis after Oct 7, and consists of a group of senior female lawyers (from a wide variety of legal disciplines) and other experts who got together after identifying the need for assistance and advice, and for the treatment of the challenges that had arisen.
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari is an expert on family law and international women’s rights. She is the Founding Academic Director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University Law Faculty in Israel. She served 12 years on CEDAW, twice as Vice-Chair and as first Chair of the Working Group on Inquiries. She has published extensively in her areas of expertise, including “Women in Israel” (pub Univ. of Pennsylvania Press) and co-editor of the CEDAW Commentary (2nd edition OUP).
International awards include the US States Department Women of Courage Award and the Human Rights Award 2024 of the Ingrid zu Solms-Stiftung Foundation in Germany. In 2018 she was one of Apolitical 100 most influential people in gender policy worldwide.
She is committed to achieving justice and recognition for the victims of the sexual violence and gender-based atrocities executed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Since Oct. 8 her reputation as a leading human rights defender and her experience on CEDAW has allowed her to navigate and gain access to international human rights bodies and Israeli authorities. She has held meetings with leading decision-makers at the UN and was instrumental in arranging the fact finding mission by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Patten.
In Prof Halperin-Kaddari’s presentation she discussed Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (CRSGBV), focusing on the atrocities committed by Hamas during the October 7th massacre. She examined the evolution of international responses, Israeli authorities handling of an unprecedented event within its borders, the fostering of an international narrative, advocacy for an international investigation, and the pursuit of justice against the perpetrators.
Watch a recording of the event here.