Bauk - Recreational Gang Rape

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of reported cases of gang rape committed against women in Cambodia. According to the Guardian UK, one such popular form of gang rape is Bauk, which literally translates as ‘plus’, and is the act of recreational gang rape. Most reported incidents of bauk are perpetrated against prostitutes, but SISHA has experienced an increasing number of reported cases whose victims are not affiliated with the sex industry and are often simply school girls, young women, or factory workers. Bauk is generally committed by young males as bonding experience, or to test their manhood, and is one part of a much larger problem that Cambodia faces regarding sexual violence.

Bauk is often the result of woman being misled or deceived into vulnerable and dangerous situations. As is the case with sex workers, a woman is usually solicited for sex with one man, but then is ultimately taken to a location where she may find a dozen plus men waiting to have sex with her without her consent. In fact, a survey produced by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center found that 41% of 133 men interviewed who had all hired prostitutes, had participated in bauk. However, Cambodia does not have the infrastructure to collect comprehensive data regarding how widespread the bauk phenomenon is. What is known is that gang rape has damaging psychological consequences and also poses serious risks to victims and their physical health due to the potential transmission of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.

Cambodian and international media outlets have hypothesized that the rise of bauk’s popularity spawned from the government’s decision to shut down brothels without addressing the issues of supply and demand in the sex industry. This, combined with the national economic decline in Cambodia, led to more young women selling themselves and consequently forced the sex trade forced underground. With a need to survive, and a fear of being physically abused if they object, prostitutes often feel that they have no choice but to submit themselves to bauk.

Victims of bauk do not often report their experiences as rape. Gender discrimination is deeply engrained in Khmer society where victims of sexual assault are commonly stigmatized, while perpetrators often go unpunished for their crime. According to the Phnom Penh based NGO, Gender and Development for Cambodia, only 13.4% of women and 13.7% of men regard bauk as rape. Male bonding activities such as drinking, gambling, engaging in transactional sex or gang rape continue to put women at risk. Unfortunately, some of these behaviors are condoned and accepted as a norm of male identity.

Although there have been some arrests related to bauk, there have been few, if any, prosecutions. Only a month ago, a 13 year-old girl (unaffiliated with the sex industry) was gang raped by a group of 10 men repeatedly over the course of 3 days. At first she was afraid to report it to anybody, but after being convinced by a friend she told her foster father. He immediately informed the police who passed the case onto SISHA for assistance in the investigation. Three days later, one of the rapists was arrested. The other 9 perpetrators escaped, and it is thought they went back to their homeland in Vietnam. SISHA’s Investigations Team is currently tracing the remaining offenders and will push for their extradition if they did indeed escape to Vietnam. The girl was given medical treatment for the multiple injuries that she suffered. Her medical report will be used as evidence in the legal proceedings.

According to an Amnesty International report in 2010 ‘Breaking the Silence: Sexual violence in Cambodia’, incidents of rape often go unreported as the victims lack support from the local criminal justice system in terms of investigations, protection and due process. Government statistics related to rape are very low and unreliable. Between July 2011 and June 2012 SISHA had a 500% increase in reported rape cases. The Amnesty report also claims that sex workers are the most common targets for sexual violence, as police do not take them seriously when they report sex crimes. Prostitutes can rely on few people in Cambodia as they are often seen as the lowest members of society. Together with the help of our supporters, SISHA aims to provide support and legal aid for victims of bauk and sexual assault in Cambodia. Since July 2011 to June 2012, SISHA has rescued over 250 victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. About 12% of these victims were rape cases and another 10% related to street prostitution.