The Forensic Nurse

For well over two hours outside a school gymnasium in Richmond, a 15 year old california girl was allegedly beaten and gang raped while a a crowd of approximately 20 people stood by and watched. The crowd managed to stand by and watch, snicker, and even “tweet” about the incident on twitter, the popular social networking site. Not one of them intervened or called the authorities to report the crime.

The reasoning behind why no one got involved gets a little more complex. Some say there was fear of repercussions from the gang conducting the rape and beating. Others say the crowd was overcome with what is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when individuals in a crowd see that everyone else in the crowd is doing or not doing something, and that behavior becomes the accepted social norm. In essense, because no one else was doing anything, it must be ok for me to do nothing.

Some of you may remember the story of Kitty Genovese who was brutally raped, beaten, robbed, and eventually stabbed to death in Queens New York back in 1964. The story gained national attention when it was later revealed that several witnesses heard her scream during the attack during the night, and no one notified the police. One man shouted from his window to leave the girl alone, and the attacker fled, only to return a few minutes later when the police never arrived, and dragged her into a stairwell and stabbed her again leaving her to bleed out in a stairwell.

California has a law that makes it illegal to witness a crime against a child and not report it to police. But in this case technically the crowd did not violate the law which specifies that age of the minor child is 14 or less. The victim in the California gang-rape case was 15 years old.

  “This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it,” Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department. “It was like a horror movie. I can’t believe not one person felt compelled to help her.”

To date the AP is reporting that five people have been arrested so far in connection with the crime. Three juveniles and two adults.  Richmond police spokesman, Lt. Mark Gagan said that  the three juveniles will be charged as adults. While the complete list of charges is not final yet, the suspects will be facing felony charges like “rape in concert” which can carry a life sentance.

The police were eventually notified when a person called in who had overheard others who were at the scene of the assault talking about the incident. The girl was found unconscious and “brutally assaulted” under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday 

Police have posted a $20,000 reward for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in the attack.

A gang rape is when a group of two or more attackers sexually assault one or more victims. This type of group rape is sometimes referred to as a “gang bang” or “running a train”. Approximately 10-20% of all sexual assualts are gang rapes. The word tournante is a French adjective meaning “turning” and is used as a slang term to mean a gang rape. According to the testimony of numerous victims, young Muslim women who stray from traditional conduct in the immigrant neighborhoods, such as behaving and dressing like a westerner, or wanting to live as Europeans or refusing to wear the traditional clothing, have been considered by some to be “fair game” for tournantes.

According to Samira Bellil in a CNN interview, there was a trial in Lille regarding a 13-year-old girl who had been allegedly gang-raped by 80 men.

Samira was first gang-raped when she was 14, by a gang led by someone she knew. They beat her viciously and raped her all night. A month later, one of the most violent attackers in the gang followed her and dragged her off a train by her hair, while other passengers looked the other way. She was then brutally gang-raped by the gang members again.

She did not report her rapes until two friends told her that the same gang had raped them too. The typical scenario that takes place is that the targeted young woman is drawn or lured into a secluded area where she is brutalized and repeatedly raped by groups of men who take turns raping her. The victim is usually insulted for behaving in a Westernized manner. Typically the girls are often released afterwards, but rapes are often unreported for fear of reprisals against their families. In nearly every case on record the young victim who does report the crimes committed on them says that days later they would again be caught by the gang and gang-raped again.

These types of attacks can also be further categorized into sub categories like: opportunistic rape, street gang rape, male rape, aquaintance rape.

Opportunistic Rape: The most common scenario is during a burglary or robbery. During the process of committing the robbery the attacker(s) may be startled or interupted by a female who happened upon them. Rather than fleeing the scene they may linger and decide to “take advantage” of the situation by raping her. Often these types of attacks are not especially violent, but may escalate into a violent situtation due to the impulsive nature. Because the attackers were suprized by the person being there, they typically have not planned out what or how to deal with the person. They may use improvised restraining devices or no restraints at all, and simply threaten or imply violence if the victim does not comply.

This type of impromtu sexual assault is usually short in duration. If they were there to commit a robbery in the first place, they may still be trying to get away with the stolen goods. A condom is rarely used since the rape was not premeditated and opportunistic. Ejaculation may or may not occur. Recent SANE-SART statistics on ejaculation sites.

Street Gang Rape: This type of rape is almost completely intracial. Rarely does it cross racial boundaries. Increasingly this type of sexual assault is used as part of the gang initiation process. Sometimes it may involve a younger member of a sister gang who is also being initiated, sometimes it may be a random target chosen off the streets, and in other cases, it may involve a same sex target of a rival gang. This is meant to humiliate and degrade the rival while proving that the attacking gang is stronger.

In many cases there are many levels of insult and intimidation. Forced oral (fellatio) and anal sex are common. Urination  on the victim, especially by later members of the “train procession” as a way to further degrade the victim may occur. With each “round” the levels of degredation, torture, and acts tend to escalate.

 Male Rape: Males who are sexually assualted typically are lower reporters than female victims. Depending on the study used, most statisitics show about 5-10% of victims are male. One study indicated that approximately 36% of male prisoners are sexually assualted by more than one perpetrator. Usually the first time prisoner, illegal immigrants, or phyiscally handicapped (weaker and more vulnerable targets) are the ones targeted for repeated assaults. The majority of these rapes are done by heterosexual males, much like the rival gang rapes listed above.  Violence is much more likely on male on male rapes, as well are the demanding of multiple physical acts. Weapons are also more common method to enduce coersion.
Gang Acquaintance Rapes:  In most instances in a gang aquaintance rape the victim has been carefully selected and includes some group collaberation and forethought before the attack occurs. The victim may have one or more of the following characteristics:

• New student, or new to the area with few friends
• unpopular
• unattractive
• overweight
• already had sex with one of the group members
• intoxicated
• drug use
• low self esteem, may be easily lured / flattered by attention before an assault
• Sorority sister

College campuses are a common location for such incidents. Often at parties or on the way home from a group date. While most acquaintance rapes involve one perpetrator and one victim, the campus gang rape is far too prevelant.

Incoming freshmen females are the most targeted for gang rape. They are usually more naive, tend to be more vulnerable, have fewer friends, and be more willing to be lured into a position of isolation. The first few weeks of the new school semester are the most vulnerable times for gang rape for incoming freshmen.

These types of gang rapes are often planned well in advance and can endure for hours as each group member has their turn. The use of alcohol and other narcotics to subdue the victim. It is not all that uncommon for their to be multiple spectators to the events, and even video taping of the assault. In most cases there is limited to no physical injury to the victim, except for any genital injuries as the result of repeated intercourse.

When and if defendants are ever charged in such cases, they most often don’t deny that sex occured, but that the victim was consentual, or that “she never said no or stop”.