Karen
Franklin, Ph.D.
Selected Topics:
"Gang Rape"
Multiple-perpetrator rape is an
astonishingly understudied topic. In the sex offender industry, group
rapists are often lumped
together with other types of sex offenders, including solo rapists and
pedophiles.
This is a big mistake. In many cases, multiple-offender rape has little
to do with
sex. Rather, it is often a form of cultural theater, in which the
victim serves as a
dramatic prop through which men publicly demonstrate their
heterosexual masculinity to each other.
Group rapes are ritualistic. Despite
occurring in diverse
settings – from sports teams to the military to elite college
fraternities to
street gangs – they typically follow a very scripted scenario. In
addition to
serving as a display of masculinity, they may also serve to cement
social bonds among men.
Dr. Franklin has published an
analysis of group rape in
which she compares it to group assaults on gay men and lesbians. In her
analysis, group rape of women and violence against homosexuals are
parallel
forms of cultural theater, with the victims serving as interchangeable
dramatic
props. The article features
a 2003 Long Island case in which high
school athletes sexually assaulted their younger teammates, and
discusses other
notorious examples including the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder and a 1989
group rape
of a mentally retarded girl in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. The article ends
by suggesting how the
model can be used to
shape interventions targeting the social norms underpinning these two
highly
injurious forms of violence.
RESOURCES:
Franklin,
K.
(2004). Enacting Masculinity: Antigay
Violence and Group Rape as Participatory Theater. Sexuality
Research & Social Policy, 1 , 25-40.
Horvath,
M.A.H., &
Kelly, L. (2009). Multiple perpetrator
rape: Naming an offence and initial research findings. Journal of Sexual Aggression,
15, 83-96.
Woodhams, J., Gillett,
R., & Grant, T. (2007).
Understanding the Factors That Affect the Severity of Juvenile Stranger
Sex Offenses: The Effect of Victim Characteristics and Number of
Suspects. Journal
of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 218-237.
Adams, S. 2005.
Straight talk: Could 'group rape' lessen the perception of the
crime? Guardian
of UK, (2005)
