There have been three sex attacks in the last four months on young females in Hawkes Bay, some of them happened to girls as young as 11 years old.

The latest attack was on a 16 year old on Saturday night when she was assaulted by a group of men whilst walking through a Flaxmere Park. News report of the incident avoided using the term “pack rape”,  using headlines such as “Girl 16 attacked in park” .

The NZ Herald reported an interview with Hastings police CIB Detective Robin Parker who said

“Suffice to say the victim has gone through a significant traumatic event and is obviously trying to cope with this as best she can with the support of her family.”

The Herald went on to list a number of other recent sex attacks in Napier. Those included a 17-year-old girl who was dragged in to public toilets opposite the Onekawa Shopping Centre. Her assailant threatened her with a spanner. And, an 11-year-old girl who was the victim of a day-time assault near to the picturesque Chinese Bridge in Napier.

All of the above assaults were perpetrated by adult males but in May of last year a 10 and a 13 year old boy on scooter were  involved in a random sex attack on a 16 year old girl in Hastings, that was unconnected to as earlier sexual assault in February.

E2NZ has before discussed how gangs in New Zealand are often referred to as “groups” and there have been incidents in the past where young men have committed rapes and serious assault to gain membership of those gangs. Given the reputation Hawkes Bay has for gang activity it is all too easy to make assumptions about what may have happened in the Flaxmere park.

Our condolences go out to the young woman and her family, and we ask on her behalf for better policing of at risk areas and for a public campaign to warn women of the dangers they face when out alone. Perhaps some of these locations could be better lighted at night, perhaps people out and about in the community should alert police about suspicious activity before the crime is committed, not afterwards.

Obviously, more needs to be done to make the Hawkes Bay region safer for women.