ANITA COBBY’S CASE
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Institution
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Anita Cobby’s Case
Gender-based killings have been the cause of increasing female deaths in the world, particularly in the United States. According to a report released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2018, the number of women killed by intimate partners, family members or friends globally was estimated to be 50,000 (Cole, 2018, p). These murders occur due to several reasons among them being domestic conflicts. Women who have been separated from their husbands because of marital differences are at a higher risk of being targeted by criminal gangs. Reflecting on the case of Anita Cobby, it is evident that local gang groups are more likely to hurt and kill a woman than a man.
Anita Lorraine Cobby was a nurse at The Sydney Hospital and Miss Western Sydney during the time of her death. On February 4, 1986, Cobby’s body was discovered dumped in a paddock in Prospect. She had been taken from the streets by a gang in a car while she was going home after work. Evidence showed that she had suffered physical and sexual assault before being murdered (Serisier, 2005, 121). She died from a slit throat. Investigations were initiated immediately and on 21st February the same year, five young men all with criminal records were arrested. John Travers, Michael Murdoch, Leslie Murphy, Michael Murphy, and Gary Murphy were charged for car stealing, rape, and murder of Anita Cobby.
Cobby’s murder brought a public outrage in Black town and several demonstrations were initiated outside the police station (Hosking, 2017, p). The people wanted the death sentence to be returned so that the perpetrators could be thoroughly punished for the brutal manslaughter to Cobby in cold blood. During the trial, the defendants had pleaded not guilty of the charges. This made the detectives cultivate more on the individual’s criminal records, which uncovered their real characters (Elder, 2019, p). John Travers, who was the ring leader, had cut agreed to have raped and killed Cobby. The other four accepted to have been involved in assaulting the victim and murdering her. In June 1987, the offenders were jailed for life imprisonment and the judge added an extra order for them to never be released.
The offenders made a random choice on Cobby based on her personal characteristics and gender. Being a beauty pageant, Anita was known in her hometown by many people including her murderers. Although they were from Black town, Cobby’s home area, she did not have a personal relationship with them. Physical beauty was one of the characteristics which initially attracted John Travers, the killer. When he saw her, he told the other men to grab her since he “wanted” her (Sutton, 2019, p). Because of this, he was the first one to rape Cobby in the car before they got to the murder scene. The other men were lustful about her which led to the multiple rape scenarios by the other men. The fame and beauty that Cobby had acquired made her more noticeable.
Additionally, she was estranged from her husband. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this is one of the risk factors which make women murder victims. During the time of her death, Cobby was living with her parents in Black town after separating from her husband. It is obvious that the perpetrators knew she had separated from her partner since they hailed from the same town. Many single women are targeted by criminals because they are perceived to be weak. They have no one to protect them thus the offenders find it easy to inflict physical and sexual abuse. A WHO report showed that more than 700 women had been murdered in Guatemala in 2008 (“Understanding and addressing violence against women,”2012, 3). When the women find themselves in the hands of the criminals, they initiate self-defense since they have no one to protect them. They end up being killed.
Furthermore, the fact that Cobby was a female contributed to her being a target. According to research by UNODC, the number of women who were intentionally killed in 2017 added up to 87,000 (“Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related killing of women and girls,”2018, 10). Since the offenders wanted money to buy petrol for the stolen car, they could have robbed any other person. However, their intentions changed when they saw Cobby who was a female (Lissner, 2018, p). Not only did the offenders rob her money, but also ended up sexually abusing and killing her. This shows that women are at higher risk of murder than men because the offenders are driven by other motives which include sexual lust.
In a nutshell, gender-based murders have increased in the world. Several women are being killed every day by intimate partners, family members, friends, and strangers. Some of the reasons which lead to these murders include separation from a partner, gender characteristics and physical characteristics such as beauty. Criminals target women to fulfill their sexual lust thus torture them in the process. Since the female gender is generally perceived as weak, the criminals assume that it is easy to manipulate the victims. Nonetheless, when they sense danger, the women initiate self-defense which leads to them being killed because the offender expected cooperation.
References
Cole, D., 2018, November 30. U.N. Report: 50,000 Women A Year Are Killed By Intimate Partners, Family Members. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/30/671872574/u-n-report-50-000-women-a-year-are-killed-by-intimate-partners-family-members
Elder, J., 2019, February 22. Anita Cobby: Victim to a pervert under-class we dare not explore. Retrieved from https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/02/22/anita-cobby-still-shocking/
Global Study on Homicide: Gender-related killing of women and girls, 2018. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 1-62.
Hosking, B., 2017, March 20. Anita Cobby murder: ‘Everyone in the car that dreadful night had a passport to doom’. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/mar/20/anita-cobby-everyone-in-the-car-that-dreadful-night-had-a-passport-to-doom
Lissner, C., 2018, October 8. US Domestic Violence Murder Rate Rises. Retrieved from https://www.ozy.com/acumen/us-domestic-violence-murder-rate-rises/89868/
Serisier, T., 2005. ‘Remembering Anita’: Rape and the Politics of Commemoration. Australian Feminist Law Journal, 23(1), 121-145. DOI:10.1080/13200968.2005.10854347
Sutton, C., 2019, February 23. Anita Cobby murder: The savage crime that shocked and changed a nation. Retrieved from https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/the-most-savage-fiendish-murder-ever-known/news-story/c0b1a71d7c50fa5d145d41c7bb6f28b6
Understanding and addressing violence against women, 2012. World Health Organization, 1-8.
