The Stream

Activists demand justice for alleged ‘rape club’ victims

Petition handed to New Zealand parliament over police handling of case after weekend of protests.

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Parliament House and ‘The Beehive’ executive wing in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo via Wikimedia Commons user Nick-D [Creative Commons]

A 111,000-strong petition demanding justice for the young women who have been victimised in the case of the so-called “rape club” was handed to the New Zealand parliament on Thursday. The “Roast Busters” group allegedly gang-raped intoxicated and underage girls, then publicly shamed them by posting videos on social media.

“Roast Busters” was first revealed in an investigation released earlier this month by New Zealand’s 3 News. Members of the group reportedly bragged on a Facebook page about their exploits. They call it “roasting”. 
 
According to 3 News, a police spokesman initially claimed they were aware of the group, but had not begun prosecution because no alleged victims had made formal statements. It was later reported, however, that at least two victims had gone to the police in 2011. One of them was quoted as saying the police “asked a lot of questions about what I was wearing, and I went out in a skirt”. 
 
The police later confirmed that four girls had, in fact, come forward in 2011 and 2012.
 
Two petitions, one directed at New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, and the other at the Auckland Police District, have together gathered more than 150,000 signatures from New Zealanders outraged with the police’s handling of the case.