27 Fall 2026 enjoys impunity within an “everyday” legal framework for the crimes it commits, the impunity applies not only to the actual perpetrators, but also extends to their leaders, commanders and other members of the force. Moreover, these obstacles are often instrumentalized by the aggressor as tools of denial, serving to obscure the historical record. The Dinah Project, of which I am a co-founder, director, and within the framework of which I conduct research, was conceived out of the bloody ashes of the October 7 attack. The project was established to ensure recognition and justice for the victims and survivors of the widespread heinous acts of Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), that were perpetrated on that day and during subsequent captivity.1 The project focuses on the Israeli case, serving as a case study in confronting the challenges of pursuing recognition and justice for victims of CRSV everywhere, and during the research, has developed a unique platform that categorizes information based on its proximity to the crimes and its evidentiary value. Furthermore, the project created an innovative universal legal framework aimed at addressing sexual violence as a weapon of war, and at contending with the challenges that constitute an obstacle to accountability. The research culminated in the publication of a book, A Quest for Justice – October 7 and Beyond in July 2025,2 which outlines a legal roadmap enabling the prosecution of crimes of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The legal approach presented in this book is grounded in the principles of criminal law and is based on the premise that, given the high threshold imposed by these principles, a roadmap that satisfies the stringent requirements of criminal law will likewise meet the needs arising in other forms of legal proceedings. In this article, I offer an overview of the principles of the legal roadmap formulated by the Dinah Project; address the key challenges created by the phenomenon of sexual violence as a weapon of war; present the primary challenges and obstacles which jeopardize the possibility of prosecution; and outline the responses and solutions proposed by the Dinah Project to these obstacles. The challenges and solutions will be illustrated through examples from the October 7 attack. Finally, I call for a paradigmatic shift in the legal response to crimes of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and for the incorporation of the principles, mechanisms and tools proposed by the Dinah Project in the domestic and international legal systems. Following the practice in our book to distinguish between sexual violence directed at the individual and sexual violence employed as a weapon of war, I refer to the first type of violence as “sexual violence directed at the individual” and to the second type of violence as “conflict related sexual violence” (CRSV). On the Importance of Distinguishing Between Sexual Violence Directed at the Individual and Conflict Related Sexual Violence There are numerous aspects that distinguish sexual violence as a weapon of war from sexual violence directed at the individual. One crucial insight pertaining to our discussion is that an examination of CRSV must be conducted via a different prism than that used to examine sexual violence directed at the individual. Viewing CRSV with the same lens generally applied to examine and treat crimes of sexual violence directed at the individual almost entirely precludes any possibility of prosecuting assailants who perpetrated crimes of CRSV.3 This important insight must serve as a central premise of the work of the authorities in different countries where legal intervention is requisite in response to crimes of CRSV. As will be shown, two central and inseparable criminal aspects require in-depth examination. The first of these is the evidentiary aspect, which seeks to address the numerous challenges posed by an attack – particularly a mass attack – of CRSV. The second aspect concerns the substantive responsibility for perpetrating the crimes and the 1. The Dinah Project, available at https://thedinahproject.org/ 2. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Nava Ben-Or, Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, A QUEST FOR JUSTICE: OCTOBER 7 AND BEYOND – RECOGNITION AND JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT (2025), available at http://thedinahproject. org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Dinah-Project-full-report-A4-pages_web.pdf [hereinafter Halperin-Kaddari, Ben-Or, Zagagi-Pinhas, A Quest for Justice]. A new and updated edition of the book containing information that has been discovered since the release of the first edition is currently being prepared for publication. 3. Supra note 2, at 42, 56.
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