Night wolves

Night wolves

Only in ZhG: why does the number of rapes increase in summer? What makes sexual maniacs more excited than usual in the heat? How to protect yourself from abuse at this time of year? Well-known lawyers, psychologists and sex therapists talk about this in a special investigation by our correspondents.
This has never happened before in the Russian general education system: in the last days of May, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent letters to all schools in large cities with a request to hold a special lecture in the last lesson before the summer holidays, the purpose of which is to prevent sexual violence. The reason for the panic was the frightening statistics: every year in the summer the number of rapes increases hundreds of times! Moreover, operatives know the most “dangerous” cities, areas and even the hours when sexual abuse occurs.
Rapists are married and have children
Strangely enough, St. Petersburg leads the ranking of “sexually dangerous” cities.
“Psychologists explain the increase in sexual violence simply: the end of spring - the beginning of summer is a period of increased excitability of the human body after a long winter “hibernation”, plus a natural instinct, because girls put on short skirts and appear on the street in this form,” Vitaly Litvin, an employee of the press service of the St. Petersburg Department of Internal Affairs, told a ZhG correspondent. — Why are there so many rapes in the city on the Neva, and not in Moscow? I think the architecture of the city contributes to this. There are a lot of small unlit streets, houses with dark courtyards called “wells”. If a criminal, walking along a lit metropolitan street, may still be afraid to attack a victim, in St. Petersburg he can drag her into a gateway, and she won’t even see his face.
In June last year alone, 130 raped women turned to the city police department. 56 of them were unable to describe the attacker's face. The identikit photographs, compiled according to the victims who remembered the rapist’s face, were so different that the possibility of a sexual maniac appearing in the city was completely rejected. And by mid-August the police were looking for 70 male criminals.
- There is nothing surprising in this. It’s just that if a maniac starts attacking women, he is most likely mentally ill and does it unconsciously,” continues Vitaly Nikolaevich. “And our suspects are, apparently, quite normal people.” Imagine: a man is walking down the street, maybe a little drunk, and in front of him is a sexy beauty. Surely he will have a desire to meet you. And if he sees that the street is dark, that there are practically no passers-by and no one will see if he attacks her, this can force a man to break the law.
This was also confirmed by one of the detained rapists. 38-year-old Evgeny Frolov worked as a loader in a grocery store on Vasilyevsky Island. Not far from his place of work, he attacked an 18-year-old student at a local medical university. The girl immediately contacted the police, and a few hours later the scoundrel was detained. “I don’t know what reasons made me do this,” he said upon arrest. “I just saw it and immediately wanted it.” Well, I couldn't resist. It’s like something got stuck in my head.”
“Any person, anywhere can be sexually assaulted,” Valentina Provotorova, head of the helpline for women who have experienced sexual violence, told a ZhG correspondent. — You should never hope that it will “get over you.” Very often, danger should be expected not from maniacs and psychos, as is commonly believed, but from completely decent people. There are known cases where rapists with prestigious jobs, families, and children leading a normal lifestyle were arrested. People simply had a desire at some point, and they could not control themselves, unable to cope with the surging emotions. When it comes to rape seasons, of course summer comes first.
Moreover, this is data for the entire territory of Russia. So, if in winter in some regions such crimes are not recorded at all, in the summer their number is simply amazing. A small example: in the quiet northern city of Inta, there has not been a single case of intimate abuse since September last year. And just since the beginning of June, 2 attacks on women have already been recorded.
Are you being attacked? Laugh!
“According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, rape committed by one person is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 6 years,” says Vitaly Litvin. — This form of abuse is the most common and common and is qualified under Part 1 of Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The penis is inserted either using force or threatening to use it. Criminal cases based on such precedents are initiated only based on statements from the victim. Abuses committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy, described in part 6 of the same article, are, oddly enough, practically isolated in the summer. As practice shows, in the heat, loners act.
According to the press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2000, over three summer months, 270 cases of rape were recorded in Moscow and the region. In 2001, their number increased to 631. To prevent the number of victims this year from breaking previous records, American psychologists advise trying to prevent violence. No, you don’t need to study martial arts techniques or buy an electric shock baton to do this. The tips are suitable for both men and women, as well as teenagers.
“The main thing is to attract the attention of others,” says psychologist Maria Golavleva, who took part in drawing up the memo for Russian schools. — At a bus stop in the evening, you can go up to a lamp, stand next to someone, and finally just scream. Don’t be afraid to look ridiculous; if you feel in danger, signal! If necessary, break shop windows or ground floor windows.
If the attacker turns out to be fearless, proceed to active action. Try to hit him with the edge of your palm on the bridge of his nose. The “fighting” palm goes from the shoulder opposite to it - into the face of the offender.
After such a series of blows, the enemy is already discouraged, you will be able to sharply grab him by the head and forcefully bend him down, while simultaneously raising your knee to his nose.
There are also less aggressive, but very dubious methods of defense. Thus, in Russian criminal practice there are cases when the victim began to laugh wildly. It seems to the attacker that the victim is laughing at his sexual shortcomings, which makes him lose desire.

What to do if you are raped?
Ekaterina Prokopishina, lawyer:
- First of all, file a complaint with the police. The nearest police department will give you a referral for a forensic medical examination. Be sure to save your underwear. There may be traces of semen on it. Do not wash under any circumstances before passing the examination. Try to save damaged clothing and items that the rapist may have dropped.