ABSTRACT
Introduction Although the apparent ‘rape spree’ by young Lebanese men in the south-west of Sydney was presented as involving one gang, in fact what have now come to be known as the ‘Sydney gang rapes’ involved three separate groups of men; the gang rape of two young women by three young men known as AEM Snr, AEM Jnr and KEM in 2001, the ‘Skaf rapes’ involving up to 14 men on different occasions and apparently orchestrated by a young man identifi ed as Bilal Skaf during 2000, and a series of rapes perpetrated in 2003 by four Pakistani brothers known as the ‘K brothers’. The fi ve trials and 17 appeals that followed led to a period of intense public scrutiny of the criminal justice system in Australia. The legal proceedings were reported in minute detail over the next fi ve years and instigated two major pieces of law reform. 1 Let me start with a brief description of each of the cases.
