Gang rape is becoming more common locally and worldwide.

Awareness of gang rape in Asia was heightened by the fatal gang rape of a young Indian lady   in Delhi in 2012.

A 23 year-old female physiotherapy student, Jyoti Singh Pandey was beaten and gang raped in a private bus in which she was travelling with a male friend. There were six others in the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. The student was greviously injured and died from her injuries thirteen days later while undergoing emergency treatment in Singapore.

The incident generated widespread national and international coverage and was widely condemned, both in India and abroad. Subsequently, public protests against government for failing to provide adequate security for women took place in New Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country.

All the accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused, Ram Singh, died in police custody. The rest of the accused went on trial. The juvenile was given the maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment whereas the four remaining adult were found guilty of rape and murder and three days later were sentenced to death by hanging.

Some of the rapist in the Dehli gang rape case who were given the death sentence.

In a more local scene, we were all shocked about the incident in May 2014 when a 15-year-old girl was gang raped by 38 men in Kelantan, Malaysia.

Reports say that the student fainted after being raped by so many men and that she felt intense pain on her bleeding private parts.

The schoolgirl from Kuala Krai had gone to meet a female friend. The friend contacted her male friend, asking him to provide them transport to Ketereh, about 30km away. The youth took them on a motorcycle to an empty house in Ketereh to “rest”. Soon, about 40 men came to the house and the girls were taken into separate rooms. According to the victim, 38 men took turns to rape her. They also assaulted her.

Most of the men detained have tested positive for drugs. Police believe the men were high on drugs at the time of the gang rape. Of those caught, there was a father and his 2 teen sons.

The lone bedroom where the rape allegedly took place, there was a worn-out mattress and a television set.  The Star pic Sun 29 May 2014

What is gang rape?

Gang rape occurs when two or more perpetrators rape the victim in the same incident.

Some of the rape characteristics are:

• Both the perpetrator and victim are younger

• Usually the perpetrator and or the victim are under the influence of drugs or alcohol

• The perpetrator are of the same race or religion or same place thereby forming a close-knit peer pressure group, encouraged by the behavior of their fellow criminals.

• Most of the perpetrator are strangers

Gang rapes are more violent; the sexual and non-sexual injuries to the victim are often far more severe.

It is intimidating to be confronted by a group of people, particularly if their intent is to cause physical harm. Additionally, there is a great deal of humiliation in knowing that there was an audience witnessing the rape. Not only are there multiple people committing sexual assault against you, but also watching in the same room/area.

The perpetrator typically dehumanize their target victim before and during the rape
A 2013 study based on a 25-year crime data from US and Europe noted that between 10% to 20% of all rape cases were gang rapes. We do not have any local data.

davidvsnaija.blogspot.com

Consequences:

As the perpetrator are numerous, all the consequences in a normal rape are multiplied in gang rape.

• More likely to have more genital and other injuires

• More likely to get sexually transmitted infection

• More likely to get pregnant

• More likely to have post traumatic stress disorder.

The risk of getting HIV is higher in gang rape cases as usually there is more genital trauma and bleeding and the victims will need treatment against sexually transmitted infection (including post exposure prophylaxis against Human Immundefiency Virus –HIV) and emergency contraception

The victims will also need to see a psychiatrist and need counselling or medications

beautifully-invisible.com. Gang Rape or Fashion?

Calvin Klein’s Autumn/Winter 2010 ad campaign
Images from the campaign have been banned in Australia because they are glamorizing rape and violence against women

Reference:

1. Beautifully-invisible.com. Gang Rape or Fashion?

   • Please refer to rape article for more details on treatment and where to go for help

2. Gang rape raises questions about bystanders’ role.By Stephanie Chen, CNN.October 30, 2009

3. Rape trauma sydrome: the journey to healing belongs to everyone.Amy Menna, Ph.D., LMHC, CAP

4. Wikipedia: gang rape

5. Why treating rape survivors is so complicated: women under siege