The BBC statement was “Most of the 50 come from towns and villages in a 50km (30 mile) radius” – radius, not sq mi. Using area = pi r^2, most in a 2800 sq mi area.
Many of them do indeed sound like normal men to their loved ones. I don’t recall the exact wording, but Pelicot described her husband in very positive terms prior to the incident, as did other family members and community. Yet the rapes had been going for decades. His DNA was previously found at the scene of another unrelated rape in the 1990s. He is also being investigated for series of other similar events in the area, beginning in 1991. One of these events involved a murder as well as rape. Had he not been caught making upskirt videos in the supermarket on multiple occasions, it might have still been going on today.
The anonymous nature of the coco.fr / coco.gg chat rooms where Pelicot found the other men makes it unclear how many active members the site had, and how many of those members were involved in similar incidents. There have been 23,000 legal proceedings opened against the site by 480 victims, but most of these involve other types of crimes. The “Without Her Knowledge” chat where Pelicot found most of the men was a subforum of the the larger coco.fr site.
As a solo practicing architect I thought about it every time I met with a man especially ones without any apparent family. Happily, most people are not criminals.
Hawaii has been doing men’s marches against violence for years now (nearly 10 I think), and this year the march was yesterday on my favorite island, Maui.
“This march reminds us that peace in our homes and communities begins with each of us, when men take a stand and model respect and accountability, we help create a safer future for everyone.”
There is something very , very wrong in how these boys have been raised and the culture they are being exposed to.
I am old enough to remember when women had fewer choices, opportunities and rights. But I don’t remember seeing the outright hostility and hatred shown now.
