Gang sex and this terrifying culture of abuse

WHITEHALL’S Sir Humphreys are not known for their tendency to overreact in tricky situations.

So when the Foreign Office professes itself ‘ seriously concerned’ about something, you know it’s not just a bit of a worry but a full- on, sirens- blaring, air raid-style klaxon.

The situation in question is the case of a British girl convicted by a court in Cyprus of lying about being gang-raped by 12 Israelis in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa in July last year.

In the summer, after the charges were dropped against them, the young men were seen celebrating as they returned home. Arriving at Ben Gurion airport, they cracked open champagne bottles and chanted ‘the Brit is a whore’.

The girl, 18 at the time, was arrested by the Cypriots and charged with causing public mischief. She faces up to a year in jail and a £1,500 fine.

The fact that the UK is questioning ‘fair trial guarantees’ offered by the Cypriot criminal justice system, and admitting the case itself is ‘deeply distressing’, means at the very least something is awry.

In truth, though, it doesn’t take a diplomat or even a lawyer to see that what has happened to this young girl is a calamity. Having consented to sex with one of the young men — with whom she was having a holiday romance — the rest of the group aged between 15 and 20 got involved.

Here, the lines get blurred: DNA evidence exists proving that three of the males had intercourse with her, but they claim it was consensual. What’s certain is that the boys filmed the whole thing — and shared the footage widely.

Whether their actions constitute rape or not, there is no doubt in my mind that this girl was violated. Not only because the footage was used to humiliate her — an abuse in itself — but also because she was duped into trusting this young man, then taken advantage of in the most vile and cowardly way imaginable by his friends.

Ayia Napa is notorious for its teenage debauchery and drinking, not least among Britons who, like this girl, head there for fun in the sun almost as a rite of passage.

But while drink may have played its part, the real culprit here is a culture of abuse that has corroded the minds of countless young men. One that normalises and even condones this kind of behaviour. And it stems, of course, from online pornography.

This newspaper has long campaigned for hardcore material online to be curtailed — for very good reason. It demeans women, distorts normal relationships — and leads to the sort of grotesque ill-treatment seen in this case.

What happened to the poor girl — a sexual encounter with a boyfriend that turns into an orgy — is exactly the sort of scenario played out in countless hardcore films. I know because I once wrote a piece about online pornography for the Mail. I spent several hours with my head in the sewer, and gang sex was one of the most common scenarios I witnessed.

During the girl’s trial, a statement was read from a witness describing how the young men she initially accused had been standing outside their hotel — the same one she was in. The witness also related how they said they would be ‘staying in’, because ‘ the English girl was coming and they were going to f*** her — all of them’.

THIS, combined with their comments after their release, speaks volumes about the young men’s frame of mind.

And what breaks my heart is that it’s what so many young girls and women have to put up with. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Ayia Napa or Aylesbury: the world is full of boys and men whose sexual and moral compasses have been completely skewed by watching porn from a young age.

I have a teenage daughter and I talk to her and her friends about this all the time. Their stories are truly shocking.

What this girl endured is not just a tragedy for her and her family; it’s a tragic indictment of society, one that is terrifying for anyone with children or teenagers.

Because we now have a generation of young men who think it’s normal to expect a girl to have sex with their mates as well as them. Who think it’s fine to film it without her permission and then send the footage to all their friends. And to toast each other with champagne when it’s all over.