NGO urges stakeholders to block offensive images online that could lead to rape

Following the case of a 15-year-old girl who was gang-raped by 20 perpetrators in Siem Reap, the president of the NGO Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP) Cambodia, Mam Somaly, has called on the government to stop the spread of offensive images online, which could lead to rape.

The 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped at three different locations on three consecutive days from April 15 to 17.

On May 3, the Siem Reap Provincial Court indicted 14 suspects after reviewing evidence from the victim and suspects, while the other six perpetrators remain at large.

The girl was cared for at AFESIP Cambodia in Phnom Penh.

In an interview with Khmer Times yesterday, Somaly highlighted the root causes of rape, particularly among girls living in remote areas.

She said she recently received reports of a gang rape of a girl by six men in Pursat Province and this case of a brutal gang rape of the girl by 20 perpetrators in Siem Reap Province, cases that may be unprecedented in Cambodia.

This shows that the number of rape cases in the kingdom has increased, she said.

Somaly added that the main reason for the increase in gang rapes is the severe decline in social morals caused by the advertising and sale of products depicting erotically dressed women and other pornographic material on social media. Additionally, drug and alcohol abuse play a role in this type of abuse.

Another factor is that parents allow their children to use cell phones from a young age and they may accidentally come across pornographic content without the parents’ knowledge.

“Parental neglect makes children lonely,” she explained. “This is an opportunity for children to come into contact with bad people and get drunk, which can lead to rape. “We have received further reports of gang rape and there are many cases.”

Somaly added: “The case of the girl raped by 20 men in Siem Reap and the girl raped by six men in Pursat is a nightmare for the victims that will last a lifetime.”

She said the other main cause of the gang rapes was lax law enforcement by some local authorities.

Some media outlets also aggravated the situation by spreading harmful information for children.

“I feel sad that children are influenced by the bad behavior of others,” she said. “We can’t blame anyone for all this because it’s everyone’s fault.”

“Social problems spread like cancer, and if we don’t prevent them now, social morale will continue to deteriorate,” she said. “So the solution to the problem is to deal with these social problems now.”

Somaly called on the government to stop the spread of pornographic images on social media and suggested that online famous people should stop posting sexual images on social media. Parents should also change their behavior by raising their children properly.