Mass sexual assault is the collective

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

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

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

Egypt

In Egypt, several mass sexual assaults have received wide international coverage.transcript at CBS
In

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, the term "mass sexual assaults" translates as (), often incorrectly transliterated in the mediaShams, Alex (21 January 2016)
"Neither Taharrush Gamea Nor Sexism Are Arab 'Cultural Practices'"
, ''Huffington Post''. as "" following a German police report into the 2015/2016 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany."Bericht des Ministeriums für Inneres und Kommunales über die Übergriffe am Hauptbahnhof Köln in der Silvesternacht"
, Ministerium für Inneres und Kommunales des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, 10 January 2016, pp. 1–15.

Germany

During

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

celebrations 2015/2016, incidents of mass sexual assault and numerous

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

s occurred in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, mainly in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

city center. Over 1,200 women were reportedly sexually assaulted, in large part by men of North African origin.

India

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". 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. The Concerned Citizens' Tribunal, characterised the use of rape "as an instrument for the subjugation and humiliation of a community". 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. In January 2018 an 8-year-old girl, Asifa Bano, was gang raped by six men and a juvenile in the Rasana village near Kathua in Indian-administered Kashmir. 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 The main culprit was Sanji Ram a priest of the local temple where the incident took place. 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.

Italy

On 2 June 2022, at least 6 underaged girls were molested on a local train between

Peschiera del Garda Peschiera del Garda (; ; , ''Arilica'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the Quadrila ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

by young men of North African origin who had attended an illegal

rave party A rave (from the verb: ''wikt:rave#English, to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by Disc jockeys, DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated ...

hours prior. Authorities later identified about 30 suspects. During the 2022 New Year's celebration in the central Duomo square in

, at least 9 women were allegedly molested in separate mass sexual assault incidents. 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. 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 Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

. 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 A facial recognition system is a technology potentially capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification ser ...

. At the 2025 New Year's celebration in the central Duomo square in Milan several girls were molested by a crowd of 50 to 100 people. When they succeeded in reaching the police they didn't get any help.

Pakistan

British television presenter Saira Khan said in 2016 that she had been sexually assaulted by a some men in a crowd in Pakistan in 2007 while filming a documentary for the BBC. She accused the BBC of having ignored the incident.

Sweden

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.

United States

In July 1999,

Woodstock 1999 Woodstock 1999 (also called Woodstock '99) was a music festival held from July 21 to July 26, 1999, in Rome, New York, United States. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 196 ...

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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' that he had seen a woman who was

crowd surfing Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert). The "crowd surfer" is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's hands supporting the person's weight. Origins Iggy Pop leapt ...

pulled down into the

mosh pit Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit (or simply the pit), it is typically performed to aggressive s ...

and raped by five men. 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 The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place annually in the United States along Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the second Sunday in June, in honor o ...

in New York. The police were heavily criticized for their handling of the attacks. In February 2001, witnesses saw groups of men grope women, tearing off their clothes and apparently digitally penetrating them during the

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

celebrations in Seattle,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Bibliography

* Rape Narratives in Motion. Germany, Springer International Publishing, 2019. Editors: Gabriella Nilsson, Lena Karlsson, Monika Edgren, Ulrika Andersson

References

{{Reflist, 2 Crimes against women Rape Sexual harassment Sexual violence at riots and crowd disturbances Sex crimes