Each and every week on average five gang rapes are reported to the police in Belgium. The figures come from the Interior Ministry. The number of cases of rape too remains at alarming levels in Belgium.
Last year the police recorded 232 gang rapes. Since 2007 there have been around 250 gang rapes a year in Belgium. The figures peaked in 2007 with 293 cases being reported.
The figures revealed to Parliament show that a large number of the suspects are minors. In 2011 25 suspects were minors, while 73 were adults.
In a lion’s share of all cases the victims are women.
Gang rape is often linked to black urban gangs in Brussels, but the figures show a wider problem. Last year a man was convicted in connection with charges relating to five gang rapes. Together with two minors he got a 14-year-old girl drunk and repeatedly raped her.
Last year 3,024 rapes were reported in Belgium. In the years since 2007 an average of 3,000 rapes were reported each and every year.