“There was so much denial from the world and no support at all from the women’s organizations about what happened on Oct. 7,” she said. “Coming out, with my face, with my name, and telling in detail of what happened to me in captivity, I think that made a huge difference. More than I ever imagined that would.”

Soussana, who was sexually assaulted after being taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza during Hamas’s rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was the only one of the eight award recipients asked to give a keynote speech on Tuesday. She did so as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and first lady Melania Trump looked on.

“This was at a time when people were denying that these atrocities were being committed and even blaming Israel for Hamas’s brutality,” the secretary added. “Her bravery, her advocacy, brings much-needed attention to the scourge of sexual violence in conflicts all over the world. Even as I speak to you now, there is sexual violence going on somewhere in the world in these various conflicts. It is a scourge.”

Soussana told JNS that the experience was “a powerful moment in meeting Trump and Rubio, and them recognizing the horrors that happened in Israel on Oct. 7 and choosing me to talk on behalf of the women who received the Women of Courage Award.”

“It was so meaningful for me and gave me a real sense of the urgency that the U.S. government, that the people here in the United States feel about this entire conflict and that we have their support in bringing the crisis to an end,” she told JNS.

Sousanna’s struggle to break free from a mob of terrorists, which dragged her violently across a field toward Gaza, and kicking one of them to the ground became one of the most iconic pieces of footage to emerge from Oct. 7.

She spent 55 days in captivity before she was freed as part of the first hostage release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in November 2023. She became the first freed hostage to speak about the sexual violence committed against her.

“I think my story starts with me fighting them in the field and showing bravery, and I was scared by telling my story of what happened to me in captivity—the sexual violence I endured—that it will take from my bravery,” Sousanna told JNS.

“I was glad to see that people saw that me telling my story gave me just as much power than in my battle in the fields,” she added.

Even as Soussana speaks more often about her personal experiences, she told JNS that keeping the focus of her advocacy on the remaining hostages “makes it easier.”

A self-described private person with a deeply personal tale, she said that “when sometimes I’m alone and I see what people say, and the women’s organizations, yes, it hurts, because I told in detail what happened to me, and it’s really a private story.”

“I keep to myself most of the time,” she told JNS. “Knowing that every person in Israel looks at me and knows exactly what I’ve been through, I just try to concentrate on my role and the other hostages.”

After Tuesday’s ceremony, the awardees entered into an International Visitor Leadership Program, which the State Department bills as “the U.S. government’s foundational professional exchange program to engage with American counterparts on ways to further their work to empower women and girls around the globe.”

Soussana told JNS that the program gave her the chance “to meet some really brave women and hear their stories, and it was really emotional for me because sometimes you concentrate on your suffering, of what’s going on in Israel and the hostages and you forget that the world suffers from so many different things.

She called the struggle of other brave women who fight in their countries “a sense of the importance of this entire process.”

“It’s really hard for me to commit to something with such a tight schedule, but they’re so supportive and they’re really flexible with me, so I feel honored to be part of this program,” she said.

An intellectual property lawyer, Soussana intends to continue advocating for the hostages, but she doesn’t know what will come next for her once the hostages are home and the war ends.

“I don’t know what to say, but I think my future will be bright,” she told JNS. “I am really optimistic, and I feel lucky that I’m here—that I made it, that I survived, and I think that now I’m more aware of my own strength.”

“I feel more confident speaking in public,” Sousanna said. “That’s one thing I never imagined that I would do, and I see a bright future for myself and for Israel. I really hope it will be like that.”