Category Archives: Rape and sexual assault

Man charged with rape of 10-year-old who had abortion after rightwing media called story ‘not true’

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Police say Ohio man confessed to raping a girl who went to Indiana for abortion, following the right’s attempts to discredit story

In a case that has become a flashpoint in the abortion debate after being highlighted by Joe Biden and baselessly disputed by some rightwing media and politicians, an Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later traveled to neighboring Indiana for an abortion.

Gerson Fuentes, 27, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared in Franklin county, Ohio, municipal court for an arraignment on Wednesday. A police investigator testified at the hearing that Fuentes had confessed to raping the girl at least twice.

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‘Too ugly to be raped’: Queensland inquiry hears police were dismissive of domestic violence victims

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Officer gives evidence of colleagues describing rapes in intimate relationships as ‘surprise sex’, and saying they ‘deserved to be raped’

A Queensland police officer broke into tears as he told a commission of inquiry that he witnessed domestic violence victims being turned away and colleagues claiming some victims “deserved to be raped”.

The officer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence that he had heard colleagues make offensive remarks about victims who were raped in intimate relationships, claiming it was “surprise sex” or they “deserved to be raped”.

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Queensland commits to ban charging sexual assault victims without Medicare for examination

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Announcement follows Guardian Australia report on calls to end practice, victim’s $800 bill

Queensland Health has pledged not to charge sexual assault victims without access to Medicare for rape kits and will review its policies for other medical costs, after the findings of a comprehensive review.

The announcement comes after Guardian Australia reported on Thursday that one woman who was ineligible for Medicare was billed $800 for pathology testing this year after a sexual assault.

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Ghislaine Maxwell appeals against sex trafficking conviction

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The British socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month

The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has officially appealed against her conviction and sentence in the United States for sex trafficking.

The 60-year-old was found guilty by a jury of luring young girls to massage rooms for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to molest between 1994 and 2004.

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Landmark report calls for affirmative consent laws in Queensland

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Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce’s final report includes call for campaign to dispel ‘rape myths’

A major review has called for Queensland to adopt affirmative consent laws among sweeping reforms to the handling of victims of sexual assault and violence in the state’s criminal justice system.

The long-awaited final report of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce includes 188 recommendations to improve experiences with the justice system.

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Virginia lawsuits indicate pattern of schools ignoring reported sexual assaults

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Two lawsuits are back in front of federal judges, drawing scrutiny to schools’ failure to support students who report assaults


A pair of lawsuits that for years has plagued Virginia’s largest school system with allegations that it ignored students’ accusations of sex assaults are back in front of federal judges.

One of the lawsuits includes allegations of horrific abuse suffered by a student at a Fairfax county middle school and was the basis for a 2014 federal investigation.

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Thousands of victims of violent and sexual crime stuck in England and Wales court backlog

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Sevenfold rise in those waiting at least a year for cases to be heard as lawyers quit over cuts in legal aid

More than 5,800 victims of violent crime and sexual offences are stuck in one of the worst-ever backlogs in the crown courts, enduring delays of at least a year before their cases are heard, the Observer can reveal.

The number of cases facing these delays once a defendant has been charged has increased more than sevenfold in two years, according to an analysis of crown court figures in England and Wales.

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Female Labour MPs call on PM to scrap new rape victim guidance

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More than 100 MPs write to Boris Johnson saying guidance will lead survivors to avoid seeking therapy

More than 100 female Labour MPs have written to Boris Johnson calling on him to scrap new guidance on pre-trial therapy for rape victims, which they say will make it less likely they will get the vital therapy they need.

Led by the shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, MPs including Yvette Cooper, Angela Rayner and Jess Phillips argue that the new rules “will cause many survivors to avoid seeking therapy, and make it more likely that cases will collapse when the prolonged stress of waiting for trials becomes too much”.

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Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard convicted of violent rape

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While jury deliberated in Toronto, news broke that the Canadian rock musician had been charged with another sexual assault

  • This story contains descriptions of sexual assault

The Canadian rock musician Jacob Hoggard has been found guilty of violently raping a young woman, but acquitted of sexually assaulting a second – all while facing a new, third charge of sexual assault.

After a month-long trial and six days of deliberation, a Toronto jury handed down its verdict on Sunday evening in a court case that heard testimony from both victims recounting their alleged violent encounters with Hoggard, the former frontman of the Canadian rock band Hedley.

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‘Shocking’ rate of sexual abuse against aged care residents barely changed since royal commission

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Peak rights group for older Australians demands urgent change after 530 incidents of sexual abuse reported in last quarter of 2021

More than 500 cases of sexual abuse against aged care residents were reported in the last three months of 2021, a rate largely unchanged since the royal commission dubbed the prevalence of sexual crimes in residential care a “source of national shame”.

Experts say victims, many of whom live with dementia, are still being failed by systems not equipped to recognise or respond to crimes against those with serious cognitive impairment.

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Nepali woman’s account of rape prompts wave of protest over laws

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Calls grow for repeal of statute of limitations and widening of definition of rape after former model makes allegations on TikTok

A young woman’s account on TikTok of being drugged, raped and then blackmailed by a beauty pageant organiser when she was 16 years old has provoked outrage in Nepal and prompted calls to reform the country’s “grossly inadequate” rape laws.

In one of a series of videos, which together have been viewed millions of times, the former model and child actor broke down in tears as she talked about Nepal’s statute of limitations that dictates survivors must report cases of rape within one year of the offence being committed.

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Women in Canada’s military face greater harm from comrades than enemy, says judge

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Leadership ‘incapable of examining which aspects of its culture have been the most deficient,’ writes Louise Arbour in report

Some members of the Canadian military face greater harm from their comrades than from the enemy, according to a new report on sexual violence in the Canadian armed forces (CAF).

Called the Arbour report after its author, the former supreme court justice Louise Arbour, the 404-page document pinpoints the many failures of the CAF over the years to address misogyny, discrimination, sexual violence and trauma experienced predominantly by female members of the military.

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CPS guidance ‘makes things worse’ for rape survivors, victims’ commissioner says

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Vera Baird calls for therapy notes to be excluded from criminal trials, as they are in Australia

New guidance designed to give rape victims confidence to get therapy before their trial “makes things worse” for survivors and lessened their protections, according to the victims’ commissioner, Vera Baird.

The guidance issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) aims to “alleviate victim concerns that accessing counselling could damage the prosecution case,” but Baird echoed concerns from campaign groups that they, in fact, reduce protections and called for therapy notes to be excluded from criminal trials, as they are in Australia.

In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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‘I will recover loudly so others don’t die quietly’: Queensland MP recounts horrific abuse

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Labor member for Macalister Melissa McMahon tells parliament of abuse she suffered, announces leave of absence

Queensland MP Melissa McMahon has divulged a harrowing childhood of sexual abuse as she announced a leave of absence from parliament.

On Thursday, the Labor member for Macalister, south of Brisbane, told parliament she would take time out to rebalance her life and family.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues in Australia is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732) and the crisis support service Lifeline, 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org

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Médecins Sans Frontières condemned for ‘profiting from exploitative images’

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Medical charity criticised for using images that ‘endanger and exploit children’ amid row over photos from DRC identifying child rape survivor

Doctors, photographers, human rights activists and academics have written to Médecins Sans Frontières to raise concerns that the medical charity is exploiting the trauma of vulnerable patients to promote its work.

In an open letter to the international president and MSF board, almost 50 signatories, who include current and former staff, allege that the aid organisation has commissioned, published and allowed the sale of photographs that endanger and exploit vulnerable black people, including children.

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New affirmative consent campaign tackles issue head-on, experts say

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‘Make No Doubt’ videos aim to provide young people with tools to give and ask for consent, launched one week before NSW law change

Party pashes, drunken encounters and booty-call texts – these are some of the scenarios featured in a campaign being rolled out on social media before new affirmative sexual consent laws coming into effect in New South Wales next week.

It is hoped the short, simple videos – depicting scenes that young people could find themselves in – will equip the target group of 16- to 24-year-olds with the tools to give and ask for consent, and respect when someone says “no”.

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Médecins Sans Frontières pulls images of teenage rape survivor after outcry

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NGO takes down photos of girl, 16, from DRC from website after critics call them unethical and racist

Médecins Sans Frontières has removed photographs of a teenage rape survivor from its website after criticism that the images were unethical and racist.

MSF took down two photos of a 16-year-old girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who was gang-raped by three armed men afterphotographers, activists and human rights lawyers condemned the images on Twitter.

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Former Victorian orphanage carer, 81, jailed for sexually abusing five boys

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William Parker Skelland abused children at Burwood boys’ home in 1973 and 1974

A former carer at a Victorian boys’ orphanage in the 1970s will spend at least four years in prison for sexually abusing five of the young children.

William Parker Skelland, 81, was living in the UK in 2019 when he was arrested for his crimes and extradited back to Australia to answer for them.

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Group invades Cannes red carpet to highlight violence towards women

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Protest came before premiere of Holy Spider, based on story of man who killed at least 16 women in Iran

Protests about women’s safety have taken place at the Cannes film festival for the second time in a matter of days, after a group invaded the red carpet at a premiere of a film about the killing of sex workers.

About 12 women went on to the red carpet before the screening of Holy Spider, carrying a banner with the first names of 129 women killed in France since the last time the festival was held.

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Recorded sex crimes reach record high in England and Wales

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Victims’ commissioner calls goal of returning prosecution levels to pre-2017 levels ‘a pipe dream’

Sex crimes logged by police in England and Wales have reached a record high amid warnings from the victims’ commissioner that the government’s aim to boost prosecutions to levels last seen five years ago is “a pipe dream”.

Police-recorded sexual offences increased to their highest level over a 12-month period, with 183,587 in the year to December 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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