by Patrick H. Moore
The island of Majorca is a trendy Mediterranean playground off the coast of Spain for vacationing Europeans and those Americans brave enough to let their hair down and wealthy enough to afford it. It is known for its superb beaches and free and easy atmosphere of well-heeled decadence. Its clubs are known for the copious consumption of party drugs and alcohol. It’s well-known that the nightlife — at least for the younger set — is not for the faint at heart.
17-year-old British teenager Lauren Walsh found this out the hard way in August of 2011 at a raucous foam party at a club in Magaluf in Majorca when she was attacked on stage by a group of British men, stripped of her clothes and brutally raped in the packed, steaming nightclub.
Lauren reports that the sexual assault occurred after she became separated from her friends. The music was too loud for her screams to be heard and none of the hundreds of club-goers in attendance noticed her distress until it was too late.
Lauren, now 19, relates that she was not drunk and had only had a few cocktails before switching to water. Oddly enough, just before the assault, she recalls that the DJ made a joke about girls being welcome onstage but only if they took the clothes off. The next thing she knew five or six guys dragged her up on the stage and then to the back of the stage.
“They started pawing at me and pulling at my clothes. I heard them talking and laughing, egging each other on in English accents. I was screaming and trying to get away, grabbing on to a rail at the front of the stage, hoping someone would see me, but they kept pulling me back.”
As bad as it was, the rape would probably would have gone on for much longer had not a photographer who was employed there finally realized that she was “not enjoying” the horrific ordeal.
Lauren’s attack occurred nearly two years ago, but she is hardly the last young British girl to be subjected to sex attacks at resorts such as Magaluf, Faliraki in Rhodes, and Ayia Napa in Cyprus.
There have been three sex attacks on tourists in the last two weeks in Marmaris, Turkey. In the most recent attack, which occurred on Friday, July 26th, a woman in her 40s claims she was raped at a spa while having a massage. The preceding week, a 28-year-old fought off an attacker and a 21-year-old was raped in a taxi.
310 Brits were sexually attacked or raped abroad last year, a 10 per cent increase from 2011. Spain, Turkey and Greece were the most dangerous countries. Nearly half the 39 Spanish cases were in the Balearics, including Ibiza and Majorca.
While in counseling, Lauren came to realize that in no way had she asked to be assaulted and the fact that she was wearing shorts and a tee-shirt is hardly an invitation to rape. She recalls that when her friend booked Magaluf, she was nervous at first because of its racy reputation, but that after a few days on the beach she was enjoying herself.
The night of the attack was not her first trip to the club:
“We’d been to the club a few nights before the rape. It was always really busy. I know the crowd at the front would have been able to see what was happening to me but everyone is so drunk and the emphasis is so much on sex, with some people doing outrageous things openly, that nobody did anything.”
The photographer who finally intervened apologized for not stopping the attack sooner, explaining that he thought she had been enjoying what he perceived as consensual group sex. Senior staff were called, Lauren’s clothes were retrieved and she was ushered unceremoniously out the back door. There were no offers to escort her back to her hotel or to call a cab.
Fortunately, she was taken to a clinic the next day for the morning-after pill:
“They were sympathetic and talked about all the options – reporting the rape to the police, flying me home early, whatever I wanted. Reporting it seemed pointless. I couldn’t identify any of the guys as they grabbed me from behind and kept me on the ground because I was fighting for all I was worth.”
The representatives from Lauren’s travel agency went to the club and examined the video cameras and discovered they were only outside to patrol the perimeter. What happens inside a club in Majorca apparently stays in Majorca.
Without a doubt, Lauren has been strong throughout this ordeal and she has refused to let it destroy her. She will begin work on a business degree at Liverpool John Moores University in September. She does have a boyfriend now who states:
“I was gutted she’d gone through that but it didn’t change things. I might be a bit protective, especially when she’s out without me.”
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So all you American parents: When your dear daughters go to Europe on their senior class trip, or after their graduation, make sure they know they may be viewed (will be viewed) as sex objects, not only by some of the locals, but by other tourists as well. Make sure they understand the need to be alert and to protect themselves. British teenager Lauren Walsh appears to have done a good job of weathering her personal disaster, but not everyone is so psychologically hardy.