Five rapes in one night 'nothing unusual'

Five women were raped in Auckland on Friday night - but police and sex abuse workers say that's not unusual.

The attacks happened in Ponsonby, Penrose and Mt Wellington, with two others in the greater Auckland area.

The complaints were all in the early stage of investigation, said Detective Sergeant Geoff Ringer.

The rapes were on the same night as an armed hold-up in West Auckland and the killing on Friday night of a man in Waterview.

Kathryn McPhillips, clinical manager of the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation, backed a police spokeswoman's comments, saying her team of counsellors dealt with up to three rapes on Friday nights in central and west Auckland.

There would be an equal number in the greater Auckland area, including south Auckland, she said.

"It happens more than people think. This past week we have had them day and night. We have a big problem with sexual violence in this city. It's not known or talked about."

Publicity targeting New Zealand's attitudes towards rape had tailed off in recent years, she said.

"It came out of the closet and we talked about it a lot but didn't manage to solve it. So we stopped talking about it."

Ms McPhillips said one of the failures in tackling the problem was the lack of a treatment programme for people convicted of sex crimes against adults. "There is nothing, they just get locked up."

She said messages about adult-on-adult rape being a crime of violence failed to deal with the complex way sex and power combined. It meant those convicted of sex crimes were regarded as violent criminals rather than offenders who needed treatment.

Ms McPhillips said action was being taken in the form of a Ministry of Justice "action plan" aimed at reducing sexual violence.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY