(Article from April 13, 2018)
Merced Daily recently interviewed a homeless man who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of becoming a target.
He stated, “A year ago I was sleeping in the old vacant Orchard Supply building with a number of other homeless people. I woke up and heard a woman screaming along with male voices using vulgar language. I then realized it was a group of men rapping a woman. I felt like I should have done something, but I would have been out numbered. I thought I could possibly be assaulted, killed, or possibly raped too.” The man continued to say that he quickly left the area, went to 7/11, and called 911.” He mentions that he’ll never forget those screams.
To this day, he does not know what happened after he made the call to 911.
He further shared that,” Woman who hate other woman will act like their friends with each other and then get them to go to a safe place, and then in retaliation for whatever reason, have them raped by a man or men.”
As we continued to talk, he also stated,” There is a gang in the community that uses a group of homeless people to steal and commit crime for them. This group has power because of their association with the gang. He calls this, “Homeless Politics.”
According to the Family and Youth Services Bureau, more than 80% of homeless women are sexually assaulted.
