Gang-rape

Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Response to an International Problem, Miranda A.H Horvath, Jessica Woodhams (Editors), 4, Chapter 11; is the rape of a single victim by two or more violators (typically at least three).Neumann, Stephani. Gang Rape: Examining Peer Support and Alcohol in Fraternities. Sex Crimes and Paraphilia. Hickey, Eric W., 397-407 Gang rapes are forged on shared identity, religion, ethnic group, or race. There are multiple motives for serial gang rapes, such as for sexual entitlement, asserting sexual prowess, war, punishment, and, in up to 30% of cases, for targeting another race, ethnic group or religion.

Gang rapes can be part of genocidal rape or ethnic cleansing campaigns.

It may also be referred to as party rape.

Gang rape in literature

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible documents two narratives of gang rapes: the infamous account of Sodom and the story of the Levite Concubine in Gibeah (presented as a doublet with mimicking literary structure to the former). Both instances result in the judgement of God through destruction and war respectively.

Perpetrator characteristics

Gang rapes are typically perpetrated by two or more men, and tend to have somewhat different characteristics than rapes by individuals. For instance, gang rapists tend to be younger and are more often repeat offenders, and the gang is more likely to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Gang rapes are more violent on average, with significantly more severe sexual and non-sexual injuries to the victim. The gang members also typically dehumanize the victim more before and during the rape.Ullman, Sarah (1999). A comparison of gang and individual rape incidents. Violence and victims, 14(2), pp. 123–133Porter, L. E., & Alison, L. J. (2001). A Partially Ordered Scale of Influence in Violent Group Behavior An Example From Gang Rape. Small Group Research, 32(4), pp. 475–497 Gang rapes are almost always premeditated in their intent, target victim(s), social proof, and psychological causes. Social factors such as civil wars, hate propaganda, and ethnic conflicts increase the rate of gang rape.

Rape gang members often have a binding force such as the same religion, race or place of residence thereby forming a close-knit peer pressure group, encouraged by the behavior of their fellow criminals. Gang rape can result from a group form of criminal spin, in which the group starts with less serious offenses which ultimately lead them to go well beyond their initial intention.

In a 2013 study based on 25-year crime data from US and Europe, between 10% to 20% of all rapes were gang rapes. Less than one in three gang rapes are reported, while less than 1 in 20 attempted but failed gang rapes are reported.

Motives

Sexual entitlement and entertainment

A 2013 ''Lancet'' report also found that among the motives for rape were sexual entitlement and seeking of entertainment. Associated factors in the crime included alcohol misuse, poverty, personal history of childhood victimization, need to prove heterosexual performance, dominance over women, and participation in gangs and related activities. Most cases were not reported to law enforcement, and just 23% of single or multiple perpetrator rapes that were reported by the victims ended in prison sentence. The 1886 Mount Rennie rape case in Sydney in Australia falls in this category.

As an act of war

Gang rapes during civil wars and ethnic riots take added dimension of becoming a means of revenge, sending a message to the victims' community, inducing fear in the opponent, and creating a sense of solidarity among the soldiers or militants or the violent group.Olujic, M. B. (1995). Women, rape, and war: The continued trauma of refugees and displaced persons in Croatia. Anthropology of East Europe Review, 13(1), pp. 62–67Miller, Jody, & Glassner, Barry (1997). The ‘inside’and the ‘outside’: finding realities in interviews. Qualitative research, pp. 99–112, chapter 8 Major ethnic conflicts and wars within the last 50 years have witnessed a campaign of gang rapes. Rapes by Soviet soldiers and the Mahmudiyah rape and killings by American soldiers are examples of such war crimes.

The Congo war saw thousands of gang rapes every week, with each relief center reporting 10 or more daily victims of gang rape with battering of women. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 witnessed numerous gang rapes by soldiers. The Bosnian war during the 1990s saw a similar campaign of gang rapes.Stiglmayer, A. (Ed.). (1994). Mass rape: The war against women in Bosnia-Herzegovina, University of Nebraska Press In the 1990s, the Kashmir region which was a battlefield between Jihadists and the Indian armed forces also saw a number of gang rapes which were perpetrated by both sides of the conflict to distill fear in the population of each side.

In the 2000s, civil war-torn countries such as Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria reported high rates of gang rapes by government soldiers, security forces,
insurgents, and militias.Farr, Kathryn. "Extreme war rape in today’s civil-war-torn states: A contextual and comparative analysis." Gender Issues 26.1 (2009): pp. 1–41 Similar incidents have been recorded in Libya, and Mali.

As punishment

A 2013 Lancet report on rape and gang rape in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Sri Lanka found that the crime was committed for various motives, including as a means to inflict punishment on the victim.

Traditionally, the Cheyenne people of North America used gang rape as punishment for female transgressions. A similar practice existed among the Munduruku people of South America.

Among the Mpumalanga of South Africa, there are instances of gang rape as punishment. In Argentina and Pakistan, gang rape has been reported to have been ordered as punishment.

Religious or racial factors

Though having the same race or religion often acts as a binding force for creating a close-knit serial rape gangs, studies reported that 30% of these shared-identity rape gangs specifically targeted people of another religion or race.Allison, Julie and Wrightsman, Lawrence (1993). Rape: The misunderstood crime. Sage,

Gang rape by countries

:''This is an incomplete list of countries, where government or media have acknowledged the problem of gang rape.''
A study found that the gang rapes involved more alcohol and drug use, night attacks and severe sexual assault outcomes and less victim resistance and fewer weapons than individual rapes. Another study found that group sexual assaults were more violent and had greater resistance from the victim than individual sexual assaults and that victims of group sexual assaults were more likely to seek crisis and police services, to contemplate suicide and seek psychotherapy than those involved in individual assaults. The two groups were about the same in the amount of drug use and drinking during the assault.

Porter and Alison have analyzed 739 gang rape cases from US and UK, and found over 20% of the gang rape victims died from injuries from the gang rape. Gang rape is sometimes stereotyped in media as a crime of poor, minorities, or culture; however, gang rape incidence rates are high in wealthy college campuses, among non-minorities and every culture.Sanday, P. (2007). Fraternity gang rape: Sex, brotherhood, and privilege on campus. New York University Press,

Bangladesh

A 2013 Lancet study reports 1.9% of all rural men in Bangladesh have committed multiple perpetrator rape (gang rape) of a woman who was not a partner, compared to 1.4% urban men. 35% of those who have committed gang rapes against women have also committed additional rapes where the victim was a man. The motives of rape included a combination of reasons. Two thirds of the gang rape perpetrators claimed entertainment as their motive, 30% claimed they participated in gang rape out of anger and to inflict punishment on the victim, while 11% indicated the crime followed alcohol consumption.

Brazil

Gang rape, or ''estupro coletivo'', is prevalent in Brazil. In the state of Rio de Janeiro alone, over 6,000 rapes are reported every year (or about 37 per 100,000 people). Nationwide, the rape rate varied between 26 and 32 per 100,000 women in 2009. The arrest rates on rape complaints, was 4% in Rio.Rape in Brazil still an invisible crime, Fabiola Ortiz, Inter Press Service (June 24 2013)
; Quote "The civil police reported that in the first four months of 2013 there were 1,822 rapes committed in the state, while only 70 persons were arrested for these crimes." About 19.6% of 2011 rapes were gang rapes.

Canada

Peer pressure and sexual aggression are among the cited reasons for the crime. Since 1983, Canada does not track rape or gang rape statistics separately, but tracks and reports Sexual Assault Tier 3 which includes both rape and gang rape. The average Sexual Assault Tier 3 victim rate in Canada was 15 per 100,000 women, and 0 per 100,000 men, according to a 2013 Statistics Canada article.

China

A Lancet study reports, an online survey of 980 Chinese men, 2.2% of them admitted to having committed gang rape (multiple perpetrator rape) of a non-partner woman. About 36% of the perpetrators had raped more than one woman, 50% of those who had committed gang rape had raped both one partner as a single perpetrator as well as a non-partner during a