Tunisia – Tunisia lived under the impact of a horrific crime that shook public opinion, related to 11 young men taking turns raping a 15-year-old girl over two days, then throwing her into the street. She is currently in the hospital under intensive care.

Human rights organizations, figures, civil society activists, and women citizens from various sectors denounced the horrific crime committed by 11 deviant young men against a 15-year-old girl who, according to preliminary data, lured the girl through a friend of hers to a place in a popular neighborhood in the Tunisian capital, then raped her over two consecutive days until they caused her severe bleeding and numerous other physical harms.

The victim's mother stated in media remarks that she tried to call her daughter as soon as she was late in returning, and the girl responded with a tone filled with fear and terror. When the mother went to the police station to request help, her request was met with refusal on the pretext that 48 hours must pass since the disappearance as a legal condition for intervention. With the girl's continued absence, the mother returned again to the security center, which prompted the center's chief, along with some officers, to head to the site. However, the security force was subjected to a violent attack by a group of deviants at the scene, which prevented them from being able to rescue the girl.

Writer Amna Rmili said in a post: "The crime of last night only added to the horror of this society and its fall another degree, and to its moral and value degradation. What does it mean for an entire herd of raging males to assault the body of a girl thrown among them with no ability to repel their harm? Where did they get all this decay, this evil, and this brutality? How were they raised? What did they learn? In what environment did they grow up? What is their relationship with their mothers, fathers, and sisters? Is there in their minds any authority they fear, any symbol they respect, or any lord they fear? A thousand questions and no answer in a country whose authority hunts the wicked in forests of illusion and the greater evil in hearts and heads filled with cultural emptiness, value loss, and ztla smoke. We sleep tonight and the face of the country is ugly like a nightmare."

"The Culture of Blaming the Victim Is Not Just an Opinion"

The "Equality and Women's Rights" Front issued a statement titled "Justice for Yaqeen… Not to Justify Sexual Violence and Blame Women," confirming that it is following the circulating data regarding the gang sexual assault that Yaqeen was subjected to, and what was announced about her critical health condition. "We express our full solidarity with her and her family and demand the provision of all forms of treatment, protection, and necessary accompaniment for her, while preserving her privacy and dignity."

It noted that the crime that targeted the child "Yaqeen" represents a grave sexual violence, and strongly condemned the pursuit of the girl with questions about her behavior and holding her mother criminally responsible for a crime committed by others, rejecting the transformation of the victim and her family into an object of accusation to cover up the state's failure in protection and accountability.

It also condemned the growing hate speech that justifies violence against women by restricting their freedom, stressing that the victim's clothing, or the timing and place of her presence, cannot constitute a pretext for assault. "The culture of blaming the victim is not just an opinion, but a systematic behavior that frightens women from reporting and gives perpetrators social cover to escape punishment."

The Front demanded guaranteeing treatment, psychological care, and legal accompaniment for Yaqeen, and protecting her from defamation, revealing her identity, or circulating details that affect her dignity; conducting a serious and rapid investigation; tracking down everyone proven responsible for the assault and holding them accountable according to the law, without impunity; state institutions bearing their responsibility in protecting children victims of sexual violence, and reviewing deficiencies in prevention, reporting, and caring for them; putting an end to discourses blaming the victim and guilt-tripping mothers; holding accountable anyone who exploits this case to spread hatred or violate the girl's privacy; adopting responsible media treatment that places the girl's interest and safety above scoop and sensationalism.

The Equality and Women's Rights Front concluded by emphasizing that "Yaqeen" is a child who has the right to safety, healing, and justice, and is not required to defend herself before society, and her mother is not required to bear the crime of others. The responsibility for violence falls on its perpetrators, and the responsibility for protection falls on the state and its institutions. "We will not accept that anger ends with the end of the news circulation, while the culture of justifying violence and silencing its victims continues."

An Alarm Bell

The "Voices of Women" Association expressed its anger and strong condemnation of the horrific crime that claimed the child "Yaqeen" as its victim in the El Mellassine area of the capital, Tunis, after she was subjected to a gang sexual assault that caused her to be transferred to the intensive care unit in a critical health condition.

The Association announced its absolute and unconditional solidarity with the girl and her family, confirming in its statement that this heinous catastrophe is not merely a passing or isolated incident, but a real alarm bell that reveals the entrenchment of sexual violence imposed on women and children, and exposes the acute deficiencies in the national system concerned with prevention, protection, and caring for victims.

Protection Mechanisms Must Be Activated

The "Voices of Women" Association warned of the danger of silence toward crimes of sexual violence and dealing with them as individual cases, confirming that this leniency consecrates a policy of impunity and reproduces the cycle of violence in society. It demanded reviewing protection mechanisms and activating deterrent laws to ensure the physical and psychological safety of women and children.