Stories today include a gang-rape on a Moroccan bus;
Separate train cars for women in UK;
School fence in Berlin to keep prostitutes out;
12y/o Canadian girl impregnated twice by step-dad;
Tasmanian girl prostituted 120 times by parents;
CSA charges against male Netherlands after-school carer;
Toronto area man facing charges in Canada and USA;
Indian NGO gets survivors to tell stories on social media
Gang Sex Attack on Female Bus Passenger
Sparks Outrage in Morocco
© Stefan Wermuth / Reuters
Outrage has spread across Morocco after video surfaced this week of a young woman being sexually assaulted by a group teenagers on a bus, while onlookers do nothing to prevent the attack.
The disturbing video was shared on social media on Sunday, Middle East Monitor reports. It shows a group of young men undressing the woman on a Casablanca bus and forcing themselves on her as others cheer on the assailants.
Six young men between the ages of 15-17 were arrested by Tuesday, Reuters reports. The suspects were arrested in their homes in Sidi Bernouss.
The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said in a statement: “Investigations are underway to establish the truth about the circumstances of this case and arrest other individuals involved in these criminal acts and bring them before justice,” Morocco World News reported.
There are conflicting reports about the timing of the attack. According to police, the incident occurred three months ago, while the bus company, M’Dina Bus, said the attack occurred on Friday.
M’Dina Bus condemned the incident and said in a statement shared on social media that it was working with the authorities.
A company representative told HuffPost Morocco that it was working to extract security camera footage from the buses on Friday. The company keeps its security footage for only three months, so if the attack occurred before then, it won’t be able to supply security footage.
There are also inconsistencies relating to the alleged identity of the girl who was attacked. Police said she is 24 and has learning difficulties, while local media disputed this, reporting that her family said she was 12, Morocco World News reports.
Protests are scheduled to take place on Wednesday in a stand against sexual harassment.
Does Britain need women-only train carriages
to tackle sex crime?
© Andrew Winning / Reuters
Women-only train carriages should be introduced to tackle the recent spike in sexual offences, a Labour MP has said. The idea, however, has met with opposition.
Shadow fire minister Chris Williamson said it is worth reconsidering the idea after it was first suggested by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn during his first leadership campaign in 2015.
Williamson raised the proposal on Twitter when he shared figures from the British Transport Police (BTP), which show sexual offences on UK transport networks have risen to 1,448 in 2016-17, up from 650 in 2012-13.
Similar measures have been introduced in Brazil, Japan and Mexico. Williamson said it should be tried out in Britain, as it could create a “safe space.”
“Complemented with having more guards on trains, it would be a way of combating these attacks, which have seen a very worrying increase in the past few years,” Williamson told PoliticsHome.
“I’m not saying it has to happen, but it may create a safe space. It would be a matter of personal choice whether someone wanted to make use of it.”
The idea was widely attacked when Corbyn proposed it two years ago during the Labour leadership race. His rivals, particularly Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, exploited the spat to undermine his campaign.
The measure has yet again met with hostility, both within the Labour Party and beyond.
Labour MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy argued it would “normalize” sexual harassment.
“Can we make all carriages safe for all passengers rather than restricting where we can go?” she tweeted.
“[It] doesn’t keep women safe to restrict their movements – it normalizes attacks. We need to be clear they [the attackers] are problem, not women’s seating plans.”
Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips, also hit out at the idea, suggesting it is reminiscent of conservative policies typical of Arab states.
“It is essentially giving up on trying to prosecute assaults. Also, men should be incredibly annoyed by [the] suggestion they can’t control themselves,” she tweeted.
Quite obviously, waaay too many men cannot control themselves and most don't seem the least bothered by it. If you are Muslim and Pakistani, you might not even see a need for it.
In an ideal world she is right, of course, but this world is far from ideal!
Co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party Catherine Mayer said the group would oppose the measure this time round just as it had back in 2015.
Anti-prostitute fence for school costs Berlin €57k
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
A school in Berlin has completed construction of a 1.8-meter high, 125 meter-long fence designed to keep prostitutes away from school grounds. It cost the city €57,000.
Berlin’s construction boom is pushing street sex-workers into the side street, and in this case, onto the doorstep of the Französisches Gymnasium high school just off Kurfürstenstraße, the heart of the capital’s red light district.
It’s claimed prostitutes pick up clients in the area at all hours of the day and night and it’s causing problems for the high school. There are reports of used condoms and syringes being discarded on school grounds.
“There were always complaints about unscrupulous characters, including prostitutes, walking shamelessly and illegally into school grounds even during the day,” District School Inspector Carsten Spallek told local media back in April, when the fence was first proposed.
“The prostitutes eat, stand, drink and litter. It looks filthy in the late evening,” District Coordinator Michael Klinnert told Berliner Zeitung.
“The women have no stations to wash themselves or to get themselves ready. And they relieve themselves wherever they please,” saying that women are often dropped off by clients near the school and that others, including Herbert-Hoover-Schule and Diesterweg-Gymnasium, have taken similar measures.
Spallek believes the fence is money well spent, telling BZ that it will make the area a cleaner, safer place for students and teachers alike.
Prostitution has long been legal in Germany but last year parliament passed legislation that further regulated the practice, requiring all sex workers, including porn actors, webcam models, peepshow performers and lap dancers to register with authorities.
System failed 12-year-old girl impregnated
by stepfather: N.L. report
By Keith Doucette The Canadian Press
She was 12, and seeking an abortion after being sexually assaulted and impregnated by her stepfather.
In a report released Wednesday, Newfoundland and Labrador’s child and youth advocate says the child protection system responded inadequately to her case, and missed opportunities to intervene.
Jacqueline Lake Kavanagh says questions weren’t asked, risk wasn’t assessed, and consents were not appropriately obtained when the girl sought and ultimately obtained an abortion after saying she had become pregnant through consensual sex with her teenaged boyfriend.
“She received inadequate screening and assessments, which potentially enabled the sexual abuse of the child to continue,” Kavanagh wrote.
“Had appropriate measures been taken when this child presented to terminate her pregnancy, or when child protection concerns were reported, the abuse may potentially have been detected and stopped.”
The report said the family lived in Newfoundland and Labrador for about five months before later moving to another province, where the girl told authorities two years later that she had repeatedly been sexually assaulted by her stepfather over a period of 26 months, resulting in two abortions.
The stepfather pleaded guilty in the case and to other offences including sexual assault on other individuals, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The report says that shortly after arriving in Newfoundland and Labrador, the stepfather took the girl to a Planned Parenthood medical clinic seeking an abortion.
The man claimed to be the girl’s biological father even though he wasn’t – the girl’s mother lived outside the province and wasn’t involved.
The report says although the girl said she had consensual sex with her boyfriend, questions were’t asked about his age and the stepfather’s guardianship status wasn’t verified.
The child was referred to the Eastern Health Authority for an abortion where again, age-appropriate screening and counselling services weren’t offered.
“The surgery was performed despite two sections of the consent form being incomplete, one of which included the legal capacity of the stepfather to sign for consent,” the report states.
The child was discharged from the hospital with her stepfather with no further followup.
The report says officials with the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development (CSSD) became involved a month later, after multiple protection referrals, including one that alleged the stepfather had physically abused the 12-year-old and one of her siblings.
Although the CSSD conducted some followup interviews, the child’s grandmother and stepfather eventually became unco-operative, with the stepfather claiming harassment and the grandmother refusing to allow the children to be interviewed.
The family moved out of the province after four months of sporadic contact with authorities.
“There were many opportunities to intervene with this little girl and her siblings; but they were missed,” writes Kavanagh. “The children’s rights were not adequately protected. Based on the experiences and lessons from this case, a collective effort is required to do better for and by these children.”
Kavanagh said any child who goes to a community agency or health authority to terminate a pregnancy should not be treated as an adult and should be the subject of specialized child-focused screening.
The report says the province’s health care system needs better co-ordination of services, while health care professionals need better knowledge of child protection legislation and the CSSD needs “appropriate protective intervention and follow up.”
Settlement for Tasmanian child sexually
exploited by her parents
A Tasmanian woman sexually abused by more than 100 men as a child has reached a confidential settlement with the state government.
The girl was sold for sex as a 12-year-old in 2009 by her mother and boyfriend Gary John Devine, who were later jailed for 10 years.
A subsequent review into her abuse found government agencies, including Child Protection Services and the police, failed to protect her.
The girl was a ward of the state at the time.
A newspaper reported on Wednesday she had launched legal action against the government for damages.
But Minister for Human Services Jacquie Petrusma said the matter was settled earlier in August.
"In relation to reports in today's media, I wish to clarify that an application was lodged with the court back in 2016," she said in a statement.
"As far as the state is concerned the settlement is confidential."
In sentencing the girl's mother and Devine in 2010, Justice Peter Evans described the crime as an "appalling breach of trust" and maternal obligations.
The court heard the girl was prostituted after her mother complained she was short of money.
Devine and the woman put advertisements in The Mercury newspaper offering the girl as "Angela, 18, new in town".
Some 120 men abused her at a central Hobart motel and Devine's Glenorchy residence between August and September 2009.
Disgraced former MP Terry Martin was found guilty of abusing the girl but avoided jail time.
A court heard he had increased libido as a result of medication and should have suspected the girl was underage.
More child sex abuse charges against
after-school carer in Netherlands
By Janene Pieters
School bags. Photo: Thamizhpparithi Maari / Wikimedia Commons
A pedagogical assistant suspected of sexually abusing two girls at a Patrou child care institution in De Bilt, may also have abused other kids. Several other parents pressed charges against 27-year-old Bart C. from Utrecht since an information evening was held about his arrest, the Public Prosecutor said, ANP reports.
There should be a law against male workers at day-cares.
Parents, please do not put your children into care with men.
"The new charges relate to facts that were allegedly committed to girls in the same location as where the initial fact took place", the Prosecutor said in a statement. A spokesperson told ANP that fewer than 5 new charges are being investigated.
C. worked in the after school department at the Patrou location in Weltevreden, De Bilt. He was arrested last week after two girls from the same family told their parents that he made the perform sexual acts with him. He confessed to sexually abusing the two girls. C. will appear in court on August 31st, where a judge will decide whether he'll remain in custody.
Mental healthcare institution GGD established a special number where worried parents can get advice on how to broach this subject with their children. This number is still available, according to the Prosecutor. Parents can also contact the police if they want to press charges.
According to a GGD spokesperson, they've only received a few calls about this case. Victim aid also received a few questions, a spokesperson said to the news wire.
Markham man in U.S. custody faces additional
child sexual exploitation charges in Canada
By Staff The Canadian Press
MARKHAM, Ont. – Ontario Provincial Police say a Canadian man charged in the U.S. after allegedly flying to Atlanta in an attempt to have sex with an underage girl he met online will face further charges in Canada.
In a statement Tuesday, OPP say 53-year-old Yves Joseph Legault of Markham, Ont., is in custody in the U.S. and will answer to the charges laid in Canada once the investigation and court process in the U.S. are complete.
The OPP, which has been working with FBI officials, say members of their police force, Canada Border Services Agency and York regional police executed a search warrant at a Markham, Ont., residence and seized several computers and related items that contained images of child sexual abuse.
They have charged Legault with two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of accessing child pornography, one count of making sexually explicit material available to a child and three counts of luring a child.
Legault was arrested on Aug. 11 after flying from Toronto to Atlanta and was indicted by a federal grand jury last week.
U.S. prosecutors say the girl’s mother had alerted the FBI to the alleged relationship after she intercepted a package sent to her daughter from Canada.
American prosecutors allege Legault met a 13-year-old girl from Marietta, Ga., on Omegle, a free and anonymous online text and video chat tool, in July.
After moving to another site, it’s alleged he asked the teen to perform sexual acts for him on live video-streaming and eventually arranged to travel to Atlanta in order to have sex with her.
Chennai NGO uses Sarahah to reach out to
sexual abuse victims
One of the messages read – "My uncle groped me when I was 15 and my parents still don't know because I'm scared."
K Vidhya
A Chennai-based NGO AWARE, which works to create awareness about human rights and gender equality, is using Sarahah application to answer queries on child sexual abuse and provide support to the survivors.
Sarahah is an anonymous social media app.
The Save The Smiles team deals with empowering children and raising awareness about child sexual abuse.
It all started on Independence Day, August 15, when the team started a Sarahah account (savethesmiles.Sarahah.com) and asked people to share their stories.
Soon they were flooded with queries.
One of the messages read – "My uncle groped me when I was 15 and my parents still don't know because I'm scared." Another message from a boy read he was "sexually assaulted by his neighbour" when he was 8 years old.
The team shared the messages on their Facebok page. They also uploaded literature for further guidance.
The NGO's founder Sandhiyan Thilgavathy told The News Minute they got the idea when they were conducting workshops and campaigns on child sexual abuse. He said most of the time people did have a lot of queries but were reluctant to ask due to the stigma surrounding the topic.
He said the response they received from feedback forms was way less compared to the Sarahah initiative. As of now, they have received 44 messages.
While Sandhiyan does agree that the anonymity factor might not allow them to check the authenticity of the messages but it is the least of his concerns as the sole aim of this initiative is to spread the word.
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