An international police operation spanning seven countries has uncovered highly organized networks of offenders who drug and rape their partners and use online chat groups to aid and encourage their assaults, authorities said.

Operation Medusa

The operation, dubbed Project Medusa, has identified more than 150 offenders and victims, and opened more than 270 new leads. Fifty-seven people have been arrested in connection with the operation.

The online groups provide a haven for predominantly male perpetrators to coordinate assaults, share information as well as post videos and photos of the abuse. The victims are often sedated before being raped and sexually assaulted, and in many cases, they have no idea they have been sexually assaulted until they are contacted by police.

The investigations come after the high-profile case of Gisele Pelicot in France, whose husband solicited dozens of strangers to rape her while she was unconscious. The case sparked a cultural reckoning on gender-based violence and misogyny in the country.

Experts have told authorities that offenders of drug-facilitated sexual assault continue to evolve how they carry out the abuse, making it harder for such cases to make their way to trial. There is also limited reliable data as to how widespread these types of crimes are, and survivors have called for regulators to take more proactive action to take down online platforms and websites that host exploitative material.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.