Sheryl Sandberg takes a stand against rape in the Israel-Hamas war

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! CVS is planning to make prescription prices more transparent for patients, Liz Cheney is considering a third-party campaign for the White House, and Sheryl Sandberg speaks out against sexual violence in the Israel-Hamas war. Have a good Wednesday!

- Sandberg's new call. On Monday afternoon, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg joined a group of activists at the UN calling for a wider global response to sexual violence committed against Israeli women by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks.

Sandberg first spoke out on this issue via a CNN op-ed published in late November. The founder of LeanIn.org, Sandberg often weighs in on women's workplace issues and sometimes on related matters of sexism and gender bias. But wading into the Israel-Hamas war, via this particular topic of sexual violence, is perhaps her boldest stance yet. "For over a decade, I’ve been urging women to lean in,” Sandberg said in her speech at the UN. “Now I call on everyone to speak out."

After Oct. 7, Israel began investigating incidents of sexual violence and rape during the attacks. Witnesses reported seeing sexual violence, according to the Washington Post. Additional evidence included injuries to female survivors and to women and girls who were among the 1,200 people killed. Hamas has denied that its members committed sexual violence.

After writing her op-ed, Sandberg joined Monday's event, which was hosted by the Embassy of Israel and featured a mix of Israeli officials, American political leaders including Hillary Clinton and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and other activists like Mandana Dayani, the founder of I Am a Voter and former president of Archewell. Some participants presented disturbing videos, photos, and descriptions of sexual violence from Oct. 7.

In her piece, and in a speech she gave at the UN, Sandberg framed the matter as a unifying one: "Something we can all agree on" is that "rape should never be used as an act of war." However, agreement seems to be elusive when it comes to anything related to Israel and Palestine, even this issue.

Speakers expressed anger at the UN, UN Women, and women's organizations for not immediately speaking out or not speaking out forcefully enough about sexual violence experienced by Israeli women. In a statement on Friday, UN Women said it "unequivocally condemn[s] the brutal attacks by Hamas" and said it was "alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks." It demanded that all cases of gender-based violence be "duly investigated and prosecuted."

Still, many human rights groups have tread lightly in this tense and fast-moving time, as Israel's bombardment of Gaza continued (including this week). Speakers at Monday's event expressed anger that opposition to Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza (which has killed more than 15,000 Palestinians) seemed to be keeping global women's organizations from speaking out against sexual violence against Israeli women.

Sandberg told me during an interview in the UN's Hall of Flags after the event that she was hopeful the issue could still unify. "It's never too late to say something you should have said all along," she said. "I welcome any organization to join us and speak out."

I asked Sandberg if she had any advice for business leaders still figuring out how to discuss Israel and Palestine internally or externally; she declined to comment and said she preferred to stay focused on the "unequivocal statement that we need to speak out against rape." I asked if she had any advice for business leaders who are navigating discussing that particular issue of sexual violence; the advice she offered was to "join us." She also declined to comment on the state of business's response to the conflict, and on whether she would be able to take up this cause if she were still an executive at Meta. (Sandberg still sits on Meta's board of directors.)

Sandberg's CNN op-ed published about six weeks after Hamas's attack. As she decided how to publicly engage on this crisis, Sandberg says she “felt a responsibility to speak out.” “I was enjoying a relatively private—still active with my foundation, but more private—life,” she told me. “I felt I had a responsibility to speak out...You can be for any side in this conflict. You can be for any solutions, and still be against rape.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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