Imagine going on a night out with friends and the next thing you remember is waking up, feeling violated. And the you hear people telling you that they saw a video of you having sex with multiple guys. Well this is not some movie storyline. It’s happening all over the world, but in New Zealand, a group of guys took it to the next, despicable level. This group of boys, who call themselves ‘Roast Busters‘ from West Auckland have fun by picking up under-age girls, giving them alcohol and when they are too drunk to fight, or even offer consent, they gang-rape them.
After gang-raping and degrading these girls, these boys then post videos of their exploits on social media in an attempt to name and shame the girls. The boys are said to be from well-off families and one of the boys’ father works for law enforcement. The victims of these dreadful deeds are too humiliated to come forward and file formal complaints with police and now there is nothing that police can do about this group.
These evil and inhumane deeds are taking place in South Africa as well. Sexual violence in South Africa is among the highest in the world. In April this year, a video of a 17-year-old mentally unstable girl from Soweto, east of Jo’burg, where seven young man were taking turns gang-raping the girl, went viral on social media . In Grahamstown, a 28-year old woman was gang raped by six man in March. In February this year, a 17-year-old Anene Booysen was mutilated, gang-raped and left at a construction site in Bredasdorp, 128 km east of cape Town. She later died after identifying one of her attackers who was sentenced to double life in November 1.
All these incidents are real and happened to someone’s daughter and sister. No one deserves to be raped. As a young woman, I am allowed to dress in any way I want, go wherever I want and no one has a right to rape me. People should report all cases of rape to the police so that justice can be served. To some people, rape might be all fun and games until it happens to them or someone very close to them. It is only then that we get to realise that it is a serious issue that really needs to be addressed.
