Teresa da Silva, a doctoral research student working in the Centre for Forensic and Criminological Psychology under the supervision of Dr Jessica Woodhams and Dr Leigh Harkins, has contributed a chapter entitled "Multiple Perpetrator Rape as an international phenomenon" to the Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape published on the 5th of March 2013. The chapter provides evidence which shows that multiple perpetrator rape (MPR) is an international phenomenon which is present in many different societies throughout history and across the globe. The chapter begins with a discussion regarding the issues surrounding the definition of this type of offence. It then reviews the existing data related to the prevalence and incidence of MPR in non-industrialised and industrialised countries. The remainder of the chapter examines some of the many varied contexts in which MPR is found, which include street gangs, during war and conflicts, in college fraternities, sports teams, prisons and in anti-gay/lesbian violence settings.
Teresa is a clinical psychologist who worked for more than 12 years in the Portuguese prison system with young male offenders, having the opportunity to work with sex offenders, including multiple perpetrators, in a therapeutic setting. She is currently researching a PhD degree at the University of Birmingham, investigating multiple perpetrator sexual offending – which includes examining socio-demographic and personality characteristics of multiple perpetrators and the roles they played in the offence. She is funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - Portugal) through the grant SFRH/ BD/68429/2010.
Reference:
da Silva, T., Harkins, L., & Woodhams, J. (2013). Multiple Perpetrator Rape as an international phenomenon. In Horvath, M., & Woodhams, J. (Eds.), Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape (pp. 10-36). London: Routledge