Cheryl Araujo

Cheryl Ann Araujo (1961–1986) was an American rape survivor whose case became national news. She was gang-raped in 1983 at age 21 by four men in a tavern in New Bedford, Massachusetts, while other patrons watched but did not intervene. During the prosecution, the defendants' attorneys cross-examined Araujo to such an extent about her own life and activities that the case became widely seen as a template for "blaming the victim" in rape cases. Her case was widely known as the "Big Dan's rape," after the name of the bar in which the attack occurred. Ostracized in New Bedford, Araujo moved with her family to Miami, Florida, to make a new life. She died a few years later in a drunk driving car accident.

Her case prompted national debate at the time over broadcasting of the trial, in which her name was released. Some states have passed legislation to protect the names of rape victims, and court cases have attempted to settle issues of newsworthiness, freedom of the press, and state interest, as well as personal privacy. Her case was the basis of the 1988 film The Accused.

On March 6, 1983, after putting her two daughters to sleep following a third birthday party for the older girl, Araujo left her home in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to buy cigarettes. The store she usually purchased from was closed, so she stopped at Big Dan's tavern. Two men approached and asked her to leave with them. When she refused, a third man grabbed her from behind and threw her onto the bar's pool table. She was stripped below the waist, and several men raped her. According to Araujo's original report to police, widely reported in the press, she heard people "laughing, cheering, yelling", but no one responded to her cries for help. Later investigation indicated that only three non-attackers were present in the bar: one was drunk, and two, including the bartender, tried to intervene, but were threatened by the attackers. As Araujo seemingly admitted later, there was no crowd cheering on the rape. Eventually, Araujo fought off her attackers and ran half-naked into the street, screaming that she had been raped. Three college students passing by in a van came upon Araujo in the street and drove her to the nearest hospital.

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