In Arabic Wikipedia, the “Sexual Assault” article defines the act of rape similarly to its English counterpart: “Rape is a type of sexual assault that often includes sexual coercion or other forms of sexual penetration committed against a person without their consent.”
Rape statistics in the Arab world appear very low, with many countries reporting rates below 1 per 100,000 people. However, these numbers are misleading due to vast underreporting. A culture of shame, victim-blaming, lack of legal protections, and regressive attitudes contribute to discouraging victims from coming forward.
While the Wikipedia definition of rape is largely consistent across cultures, its interpretation in various languages and contexts can be problematic. The Arabic talk page of the entry “Israel-Hamas war in Gaza” reveals a disturbing picture of denial and misinformation.
Although Arabic Wikipedia recognizes the crime of rape, in practice, this act is far from being treated harshly and consistently in the Arab world.
For instance, a 2013 study found that 33-66% of Turkish police officers believed that "some women deserve rape," demonstrating the stigma surrounding sexual violence.
Rape laws across much of the Arab world are highly discriminatory and fail to protect women’s rights. Convictions require either a confession or testimony from four adult male witnesses, which is nearly impossible to obtain.
Marital rape is legal in many countries, too. Some penal codes allow rapists to avoid punishment by marrying their victims. Women who report rape can themselves face prosecution for “moral” crimes if unable to meet strict evidence requirements. This deters reporting due to fear of punishment.
Sentences for rapists are often lenient compared to punishments given to victims. Other forms of sexual violence lack legal protections due to societal stigma.
Rape as a tool of war
War rape refers to the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war and military strategy. It involves acts of mass rape, gang rape, and sexual violence committed by soldiers, combatants, or civilians during armed conflict, war, or military occupation against the enemy population.
War rape aims to terrorize, displace, humiliate, and destroy communities, often as part of a larger campaign of ethnic cleansing or genocide. The Syrian civil war has seen a high incidence of war rape, with around 6,000 women estimated to have been raped since the start of the conflict.
One “talk” page of the “Israel-Hamas war in Gaza” Wikipedia article begins with a straightforward claim that “Jihad and Hamas raped dozens of Israeli women,” supported by numerous pieces of evidence.
However, Arab editors' reactions were swift and dismissive: “Don’t waste time writing! If you have proof, put it here or in the article; otherwise...” said Abdullah al-Hassan.
Another editor claimed, “This is slander, not because there is no evidence, but because the religion and morality of Hamas fighters prevent them from doing so.”
Instead of concluding from the many testimonies that Hamas terrorists are immoral and do not act according to the morality described in the Quran, they conclude that the evidence and reality are incorrect, refusing to let facts confuse them.
Other editors demanded objectivity. “Stop deleting evidence,” one wrote, adding a small portion of the available evidence in the form of videos and articles on the Internet.
Such evidence would be considered in any respected civilization, but not on the Arab talk page.
Ahmed al-Hader responded to the provided videos, saying, “Hello. There is no evidence that Hamas ‘raped’ Israeli women, whether sexually, physically or psychologically. The lie about the rape of women. It is clear from you that you are Israeli; I advise you to stay away from the brainwashing you receive from your country. If you adhere to the Jewish state, I want to tell you that Netanyahu is an atheist.”
The result of the discussion on the “Talk” page, which was supposed to address the many testimonies objectively, is that the word “rape” does not appear even once in the Arabic version of the article.
As far as the Arab world is concerned, at least as reflected in Wikipedia, no acts of rape took place on October 7, and Hamas behaved towards women in a noble, moral, and respectable manner, as expected from religious Muslims that follow the Quran.
Although war rape is prevalent, the denial surrounding sexual violence persists in the Arab world. Evidence of war rape of Israeli women by Hamas terrorists is met with dismissiveness and denial from Arab editors in Wikipedia.
It is expected that the most influential online encyclopedia in the world will enforce its standards of neutrality, objectivity, and fairness in its Arabic version. It is important that Wikipedia, as an organization, will demand that the war rape that was done on October 7, 2023, will be mentioned in all relevant articles.
Dr. Avior Byron is the CEO of Byron Seminars, a Translation Agency.