Mass sexual assault
Mass sexual assault is the collective sexual assault of women, men and sometimes children, in public by groups. Typically acting under the protective cover of large gatherings, victims have reported being groped, stripped, beaten, bitten, penetrated and raped.[1][better source needed]
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Egypt
[edit]In Egypt, several mass sexual assaults have received wide international coverage.[1] In Arabic, the term "mass sexual assaults" translates as تحرش جماعي (taḥarrush jamāʿī), often incorrectly transliterated in the media[2] as "taharrush gamea" following a German police report into the 2015/2016 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany.[3]: 15
Germany
[edit]During New Year's Eve celebrations 2015/2016, incidents of mass sexual assault and numerous thefts occurred in Germany, mainly in Cologne city center. Over 1,200 women were reportedly sexually assaulted, in large part by men of North African origin.[4]
India
[edit]Several cases of mass sexual assault have been reported in India and have received significant international coverage. During the 2002 riots in Gujarat, targeted violence against Muslim women and children documented by civil society groups reported "mass rapes, live burials and burnings, acid attacks, impaling, and other brutal forms of torture that was deeply gendered, and linked violence against women with violence on their children – both born and unborn".[5] Survivors reported "that sexual violence consisted of forced nudity, mass rapes, gang-rapes, mutilation, insertion of objects into bodies, cutting of breasts, slitting the stomach and reproductive organs, and carving of Hindu religious symbols on women's body parts.[6] The Concerned Citizens' Tribunal, characterised the use of rape "as an instrument for the subjugation and humiliation of a community".[6]
In July 2012, a teenage girl was sexually assaulted for up to 45 minutes by a large group of men outside a bar in Guwahati, Assam. No one intervened until the police arrived.[7]
In January 2018 an 8-year-old Muslim girl, Asifa Bano, was gang raped by six Hindu men and a juvenile in the Rasana village near Kathua in Indian-administered Kashmir the rape took place inside a Hindu temple. The forensic evidence revealed that Bano had been raped multiple times by different men, and that she had been strangled to death, as well as being hit in the head with a heavy stone[8][9][10] The main culprit was Sanji Ram a priest of the local temple where the incident took place.[11]
In July 2023 a video emerged of two Christian women in the Manipur state of India being forced to strip down naked and paraded through the streets by a large mob of men. The women were also sexually assaulted and slapped by the mob. The incident is said to have taken place in May of the same year however police only took action once the video went viral.[12][13]
Italy
[edit]On 2 June 2022, at least 6 underaged girls were molested on a local train between Peschiera del Garda and Milan by young men of North African origin[14] who had attended an illegal rave party hours prior.[15] Authorities later identified about 30 suspects.[16]
During the 2022 New Year's celebration in the central Duomo square in Milan, at least 9 women were allegedly molested in separate mass sexual assault incidents.[17][18] A 19-year-old woman was reportedly assaulted by about 30 men "of foreign origin" who repeatedly molested and groped her and attempted to strip her of her clothes until the police managed to intervene. The victim was then brought to a nearby hospital.[19] Two young German tourists reported being assaulted and groped for at least ten minutes by about two dozen men who "spoke Arabic". The girls lamented the indifference of the police, who reportedly failed to aid them even after hearing their cries for help. The two denounced the fact once they got back to their home city of Mannheim. On January 11 at least 18 suspects, all youngsters of North African origin, were identified and searched by Italian authorities, who were aided in their investigation by facial recognition software.[18]
Pakistan
[edit]British television presenter Saira Khan said in 2016 that she had been sexually assaulted by a crowd in Pakistan in 2007 while filming a documentary for the BBC. She accused the BBC of having ignored the attack.[20]
Sweden
[edit]Female participants at We Are Sthlm, a summer music festival for teenagers in Stockholm, reported in 2014 and 2015 that they had been surrounded and molested by groups of males, mostly teenage boys. Police were accused of having failed to publicize the attacks because the suspects were mostly from Afghanistan. The incidents came to light only after the 2016 New Year's Eve attacks in Germany when the Stockholm Police were accused of covering up the incidents, which they denied.[21]
United States
[edit]In July 1999, Woodstock 1999 took place and police subsequently investigated four complaints of sexual assault and rape, including digital rape, that allegedly occurred. At least one eyewitness, who was working as a volunteer at the event, reported to The Washington Post that he had seen a woman who was crowd surfing pulled down into the mosh pit and raped by five men.[22]
On 11 June 2000 at least 44 women reported being sexually assaulted and robbed by a group of 60 men during the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. The police were heavily criticized for their handling of the attacks.[23]
In February 2001, witnesses saw groups of men grope women, tearing off their clothes and apparently digitally penetrating them during the Mardi Gras celebrations in Seattle, Washington.[24]
See also
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Rape Narratives in Motion. Germany, Springer International Publishing, 2019. Editors: Gabriella Nilsson, Lena Karlsson, Monika Edgren, Ulrika Andersson
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Lara Logan breaks her silence, 60 Minutes, CBS". YouTube. 1 May 2011.transcript at CBS.
- ^ Shams, Alex (21 January 2016). "Neither Taharrush Gamea Nor Sexism Are Arab 'Cultural Practices'" Archived 2017-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Huffington Post.
- ^ "Bericht des Ministeriums für Inneres und Kommunales über die Übergriffe am Hauptbahnhof Köln in der Silvesternacht" Archived 2016-01-22 at the Wayback Machine, Ministerium für Inneres und Kommunales des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, 10 January 2016, pp. 1–15.
- ^ "Mehr als 100 Anzeigen nach Übergriffen an Silvester" [More than 100 reports of assaults on New Year's Eve]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.(in German)
- ^ Jacob, Cecilia (October 2016). "Children Affected by Political Violence in India". In D'Costa, Bina (ed.). Children and Violence - Politics of Conflict in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 203. ISBN 9781107117242.
- ^ a b Khanna, Renu (2008). "Communal Violence in Gujarat, India: Impact of Sexual Violence and Responsibilities of the Health Care System". Reproductive Health Matters. 16 (31): 142–152. doi:10.1016/s0968-8080(08)31357-3. PMID 18513616. S2CID 36616597.
- ^ Helen Pidd, "Indian anger over media footage of girl being sexually assaulted" Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 15 July 2012.
- ^ Eltagouri, Marwa (2021-12-01). "An 8-year-old's rape and murder inflames tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ name=NYT>Gettleman, Jeffrey (11 April 2018). "An 8-Year-Old's Rape and Killing Fuels Religious Tensions in India". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ "J&K: Kathua Rape-And-Murder Of 8-Year-Old Girl Was Aimed At Driving Nomads Out: Official". Outlook India. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ "Kathua rape-murder case: Tests confirm victim held in prayer hall, was sedated". The Indian Express. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ "Shocking video emerges of sexual assault in India's Manipur state amid ethnic violence". CNN. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ Wallen, Joe (2022-12-21). "Ten years on from fatal gang rape, India's women are haunted by a sexual violence epidemic". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ Milano, Redazione (2022-04-06). "Molestie sessuali, paura per sei amiche sedicenni milanesi sul treno di ritorno da Gardaland". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-06.
- ^ Sciacca, Cesare Giuzzi, Alfio (2022-05-06). "La minore molestata sul treno dal Garda: «Insultate perché bianche» Le urla al rave: «Qui è Africa»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Sciacca, Cesare Giuzzi e Alfio (2022-06-06). "Ragazze molestate in treno, trenta i sospettati: le indagini concentrate in Lombardia". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-06-06.
- ^ Milano, Redazione (2022-07-01). "Piazza Duomo, almeno 5 ragazze molestate. Una turista tedesca: «Li respingevo e loro ridevano»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ^ a b Lio, Giuseppe Guastella e Pierpaolo (2022-11-01). "Molestie a Capodanno a Milano, 18 ragazzi perquisiti. Un gruppo veniva da Torino". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ^ Milano, circondata e minacciata dal branco a Capodanno in piazza Duomo: la polizia cerca gli aggressori della 19enne, Il Corriere della Sera
- ^ "Apprentice star claims she was sexually assaulted in Pakistan" Archived 2016-02-10 at the Wayback Machine, Express Tribune, 13 January 2016.
- ^ "Assaults at the Stockholm festival have never been fully investigated". Dagens Nyheter. 11 January 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016.
Bilefsky, Dan (11 January 2016). "Swedish Police, Accused of Cover-Up, Look Into Reports of Sex Assault at Festival" Archived 2016-01-11 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times.
Orange, Richard (11 January 2016). "Police in Sweden accused of hushing up asylum seeker assaults at festival" Archived 2016-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Alona Wartofsky, "Police Investigate Reports of Rapes at Woodstock" Archived 2012-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, The Washington Post, 29 July 1999.
- ^ Michael Ellison, "NY police 'ignored' park sex attacks" Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 17 June 2000.
- ^ Kamb, Lewis; Tracy Johnson (10 March 2001). "Many sexual assaults at Mardi Gras". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 12 March 2001.
Davila, Florangela; Ostrom, Carol M. (31 March 2002). "Mardi Gras news photo that wasn't published wins prize". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
Ith, Ian; Bartley, Nancy (2 March 2001). "Man Killed at Mardi Gras was trying to help woman". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 9 December 2010.