This is a sickening, outrageous NPR story about the pervasive problem of gang rape in Cambodia: Gang Rape Pervasive Across Cambodia.
According to the story, gang rape, referred to as "bauk," has become something of a social phenomenon -- a socially accepted form of recreation -- among young middle-class Khmer men in the city. It generally happens to sex workers, but it can also happen to "normal" girls. It's shocking and disgusting, and shouldn't happen to anyone.
The story offers a number of reasons why this might be happening, but I think the most important point it raises is how it can be addressed: high-level government condemnation of bauk, something it has thus far failed to do publicly. While there have apparently been arrests for gang rape, there have been no known prosecutions.
This needs to stop. I know, that's easy for me to say as I sit comfortably here in front of my computer. But I don't even want to think what's going to happen to future generations in Cambodia if this "past time" continues...
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