So-called “LG” parties - or parties at which older boys and men set out to “slay”, or take the virginity of “little girls” – are common in most communities.

So parents and teen-aged girls need to have a safety plan and a buddy system in place whenever girls are attending parties – particularly bush or beach parties – Nanaimo Constable Gary O’Brien, who is the RCMP communications officer  for this region, asserted in a Wednesday phone call.

O’Brien was responding to a Shingle enquiry regarding a facebook conversation about times at which adult men have either organised or crashed Gabriola teen parties with the objective of luring teenage girls into sex. In some cases, it has also been rumoured, date rape drugs have been involved.

Two types of predators

Typically “LGs” are girls in grade 8 or 9, O’Brien said. He said often the girls have developed physically but their street smarts have not.

The girls are preyed on by two different groups, O’Brien said. Males in grades 11 and 12 will often attend parties planning to “slay” a girl. He said these situations are not automatically illegal because the difference in ages between the girls and the boys is not large enough.

The other scenario, O’Brien said, is that parties are “infiltrated” by older males – usually in their mid-20s. He said these men are also “trophy-oriented”, and are often emotionally immature.

Access to alcohol and drugs exacerbates the danger for girls at such parties, O’Brien said, because they lower inhibitions. He said contact with an older boy or man may start out as consensual – perhaps in the back seat of someone’s car – but end up in a case of date rape, as the sexual contact goes further than the girl wished.

Be party-savvy

The best thing for teen girls to remember to protect themselves at parties, O’Brien said, is that there is safety in numbers. Never allow yourself to be isolated, he said, and set up a buddy system so if you haven’t seen a friend for 20 minutes you go find her. He added that even 20 minutes may be too long. “Always have a” winggirl, he said.

O’Brien said teens should use their social networks to be “party-savvy”. Find out where the party is, and who initiated it – where the thread started. Teens can also “use the social media to their advantage” to share information about the older guys and behaviours to watch out for, he said.

Have a plan

Alcohol and drugs reduce the ability to make good decisions, and are used by sexual predators for that reason, O’Brien said, but bush parties also pose a high risk for girls because it is easier to be isolated, and easier to get stuck at the party site without a ride home. Further there may be areas in which cell phones don’t work, he added.

“Always know how you are going to get home”, O’Brien advises teens, and as for parents, he said they should have an “unequivocal” understanding that they will pick their teens up “no questions asked”. He added that while the teen is still drunk or stoned is not the time to discuss what happened. If necessary, parents should “deal with the fall-out the next day”, he said.

Report

While a 23 year old who has had sex with a 14 year old has breached the criminal code, and that should be reported, O’Brien said, the RCMP also wants to hear about the cases in which, simply because the difference in ages was not wide enough, the criminal code has not been breached.

Get help

If a girl has been sexually assaulted, O’Brien added, she should get to the hospital right away. Besides their parents, he said, girls can get help from any RCMP officer that they trust, or call the crisis line in Nanaimo. He said if they don’t know the crisis line number they can hit 0, 411, or 911, and all operators will direct them to someone who can help.

Corporal Trevor MacKay of the Gabriola RCMP said Tuesday that it is important that Gabriolans are informed about this issue. He added that police need the support of the public in order to be helpful, and that means they need to be informed about such parties while they are happening or as soon as possible afterwards.