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French man accused of drugging his wife and inviting men to rape her

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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    This was the original title, as preserved by a quote in post #7



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 321 ✭✭Yvonne007




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    I think I made it clear that I was referring to the police in the UK.Their record illustrates that description. It may even be that others are as bad and that the UK are just the first to clean out their dirty linen.

    But I'mall the happier to give credit to police doing their job properly, and these French ones did. I think they deserve some measure of praise for that. Because where should their job stop when Pelicot was arrested for upskirting women in the local supermarket? In practice, I'd say most police forces would not launch a fullscale search of a man's IT devices based on an incident like that.

    Second, if by the "above scenario" you mean the Pelicot case, well there are FOUR other men on the margins of this case whose connection was that they wanted to learn his technique so as to rape their own partners. And I linked to several cases in Ireland of men raping sleeping women - the fact that nobody has yet thought to consider whether those men are serial offenders… well, if you don't search you won't find, right? Maybe the police just need to start looking more carefully?

    After all, Gisèle Pelicot - an extreme case, sure, but still, that's why he was caught, if he'd been more prudent he would still be free - had been consulting various specialists for a decade to explain both her repeated gynaecological problems and her memory lapses. And none of those specialists ever thought to consider the possibility that she was being drugged. None.

    We don't know how rare - or not - drugging a woman to have sex with her actually is. Because nobody is looking. Nobody even considers it a possibility as long as the man seems like a normal person. As most rapists do, TBF.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    Yes, and posters denying that they were mostly local, based on zero evidence, and despite actual evidence that they, ehh, were mostly local, should be queried as to why they are so desperate to misrepresent this?

    Instead, I'm being accused of saying all men should be castrated.

    But hey, apparently I'm the one with the agenda. 🙄

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    That's not what I said. I said he recruited locally. "Locally" would mean around the Paris region when they lived in Paris.

    Most of the accused are from the second region where they lived, down south, since he was only starting out when they were in Paris, and they've lived in the Vaucluse for most of the time he's been doing it.

    It will also have been easier to identify the more recent contacts. ones from 10 years ago may have changed phone numbers, or Pelicot may just not have kept them once he moved south.

    These are not difficult concepts.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,211 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    Fair play volchista, genuinely, for being bold enough and brave enough to resist any appearance of civility when the behaviour of the type of man involved in this sort of behaviour is anything but civil, and deserves no sympathy or attempt at understanding, they deserve nothing but contempt. You were bang on to broach the issue the way you did with your opening post and original thread title (should be reinstated IMO), because expecting victims to adhere to standards of civility is exactly how these bastards manage to maintain their status in civil society. There’s another ongoing thread at the moment and people have no issue holding back their expressions of disgust, frustration and anger at the organised rape and abuse of children and vulnerable adults. This thread shouldn’t have been any different. Instead you’re getting posters trying to nit-pick you apart when you’ve every right to be angry, instead of offering support.

    I can’t offer any insight into the minds of these bastards that you’re not already aware of, or how women and girls ought to be able to protect themselves from men who commit these sorts of acts against women and girls, because the responsibility for their behaviour rests entirely with the men who commit these acts against women and girls. Society can’t change that, but it can make changes in law to make prosecuting men for these crimes less difficult and arduous for their victims and the people who are racked with guilt for not having known about their behaviour that they could have done something.

    Saying that, it really is a sad indictment of men that there are men in what we like to believe is a civilised society who, when presented with an opportunity of committing rape in the belief they won’t face any consequences or punishment, are willing to avail of the opportunity when they believe it presents itself. The case in France isn’t the first case of its kind by any means, it’s just the most recent one which has come to public attention in France is all. There was a similar case in the UK about 50 years ago which led to rightful criticism of the ‘honest belief’ defence and the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, nearly 30 years later which held that a defendants belief that the victim consented must be reasonable. What made that case even more harrowing was the fact that her husband could not be charged with rape, as that didn’t exist in UK law until the 2003 Act either:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DPP_v_Morgan


    In France, their laws regarding rape are far less comprehensive than Ireland or the UK. In Ireland too we’ve only recently passed the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 to change the honest belief defence to one of an objective test of whether the belief could be held by a reasonable person in those circumstances:

    https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/07/11/mistaken-belief-of-consent-no-defence-to-rape-accusation-under-new-law/

    https://archive.ph/3l28Q

    French law regarding rape is different:

    "Under French law, perpetrators benefit from a presumption of consent from their victim," said Catherine Le Magueresse, a doctor of law and author of Pièges du Consentement: Pour une Redéfinition Pénale du Consentement Sexuel ("The Pitfalls of Consent: For a Redefinition of Sexual Consent in the Criminal Code"). "Basically, men are told they can help themselves to other people's bodies, but that they must not abuse them, otherwise it's violence, constraint, threat or surprise.

    https://archive.ph/ihGNV

    It’s not surprising that this particular case has been dragged out for the last two years:

    For now, the French government seems to be playing it by the ear, awaiting the parliamentary committee's conclusions, which are expected shortly. The law's amending could be merely symbolic, introducing the words "committed without consent" at the beginning of the article, representing a truism of sorts in view of the rest of the definition.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Ohhhh, I see. Today there's been some backtracking from your original position: now only most of the accused are locally sourced, backing down from previously claiming 'all' of them were.

    The only reason anything is 'difficult' here is because you keep pushing an overbearing narrative without the necessary facts to make the claims of absolute nature. It's not a difficult concept: claims require evidence.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,365 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    Granted, I've only dipped in and out of the thread and haven't read every post. Someone was going on about women killing babies with abortions as some sort of gotcha at one point and a lot of people seem to think that the op making this thread is casting aspersions on all men, making them victims

    According to the BBC, "Most of the other men lived only a few kilometres away" anyway. Do you not find it shocking to think there are that many men willing to rape an unconscious woman if they think they'll get away with it within just a "few kilometres"? You'd rather argue about exactly how far away they were than accept this shocking fact? One of them was even a neighbour, known to the victim. What are the chances? Seems to me that either for some reason that particular area of France is a magnet for sexual deviants or that more men than anyone would like to think are capable of this behaviour. Which seems more likely to you?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 321 ✭✭Yvonne007


    The contempt for the story requires no civility. The contempt towards the men involved in this story should have no civility.

    (well according to rules, I think we need to post in a civil manner).

    But there is no need to be uncivil when it comes to men. I know I find it offensive that the men in my life would be even mentioned in the same breath as these people.

    There are some terrible people in the world. That is a sad reality.

    You said this

    "it really is a sad indictment of men that there are men in what we like to believe is a civilised society who, when presented with an opportunity of committing rape in the belief they won’t face any consequences or punishment, are willing to avail of the opportunity when they believe it presents itself"

    Why is it a sad indictment of men as a whole?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    All recruited locally, but locally doesn't have to be one single place does it? Locally in Paris, then Locally in the south of France.

    No backtracking from me. Because I haven't been making this up, I've been posting based mostly on the French coverage of the court case, with links to English speaking media when I come across them too.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    According to the BBC, "Most of the other men lived only a few kilometres away" 

    I'm sure there'll be an apology any time now from @Overheal and all the other posters accusing me of making stuff up about the fact that these men were all to be found within a relatively short distance of the couple's home.

    Swiftly followed no doubt by an acknowledgemùent that I never accused "all men" of being rapists, never mind of wanting them all to be castrated FFS.

    Any. Time. Now.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Apology for what? Most is not all.

     the fact that these men were all to be found within a relatively short distance of the couple's home.

    Prove it.

    "I never accused "all men" of being rapists"

    "Not all men", sure - but

    'I'm not an XYZ supporter… but'



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,409 ✭✭✭plodder


    That is mind blowing. To have thought, this case couldn't get more shocking ..

    I saw this comment about the husband in the New York Times today:

    He hopes to use the trial to explain himself to his now ex-wife and estranged children, according to his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro.

    What on earth is he going to say?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,276 ✭✭✭carveone


    I post with a certain amount of apprehension 😥

    If I look it up, I get about 1% for the number of people who are psychopaths, slightly skewed in favour of men but not as much as you'd imagine. I've very little idea how dangerous women are in this regard and I won't speculate. But as a man, I have a pretty good idea about dangerous these men can be and it's Extremely. The only thing that's stopping them just going on a murder/pillage spree because it's Friday night and why not, is consequence; their self interest trumps (ha!) everything else.

    Some other number, I'm guessing maybe 5% (don't hold me to that) are sociopathic to some degree. In other words they don't care. I might speculate that the 30 who walked away might fall into that grouping but I might be wrong.

    In reality that means that 99% of men aren't going to be murdering raping nut jobs. But in Ireland, that still leaves tens of thousands of those who are or could be. Only the fear of consequence, social or criminal, holds them back. The issues really start to happen when these nutjobs get into positions of power, something that tends to happen anyway because psychopathic men (and, yes, women) are drawn to hold these positions. Once the fear of consequence slips, you're screwed. Which is why constant vigilance and oversight of those in power is an absolute must.

    By happy coincidence, the Internet draws this lot together. Whereas before, you'd be some marginalised loser torturing mice or something, now there's a mice torturing chatroom where you can feel accepted. Isn't that special.

    And so you get the situation in the Church. A place which draws people (men and women) who, say, weren't going to make it as a doctor or engineer together. Where, for decades, enough psychopaths had enough control that they and their friends could do whatever they liked, at least to the poor in society where the fear of consequence was zero. And so the worst things imaginable happened. Horrendous nightmares from people who, if called out on it, wouldn't even understand what you were talking about. "I was just raping a few kids and I've lost my job. I'M the Victim!".

    And if you were in the 95% who cared, you were shown very clearly what would happen if you said anything. You would go to hell, literally. And this is how an entire populace is cowed in abject terror. It's why those who spoke up are the bravest souls in the world and have my respect and admiration. Would I be as brave? I can't say but I might not be. Shame over Pain 😞.

    Whenever you can get an ideology involved, this is practically inevitable. In Ireland it was Irish Catholicism, honed to a razor sharp point over centuries. In other places, well, it was other things. Other religions. I listened recently to a really grim podcast about Helmut Kentler (Behind the Bastards; I highly recommend not listening). This guy managed to create a system in Berlin, sanctioned by the freaking government, where street kids got fostered by paedophiles. Not only did the Berlin govt know what was happening, anyone who spoke out got their P45 straight away. Cancelled in other words.

    Why? Because (simplistically because this isn't going to be a 2 hour read) someone decided the Nazis were hung up about sexuality and therefore if you were sexually liberated, you wouldn't be a Nazi. Which would be Bad m'kay. Throw a few psychopaths in there and suddenly your kids had to be liberated too. And that meant molesting them because of course it did. And if you were an ordinary person who thought "WTF is this?" Well. You are a Nazi, aren't you. Aren't you!?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,308 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    I'm more shocked that people are shocked by this. Humanity has a history of horrible, terrible people doing horrible, terrible things. And it has never changed, just has become less acceptable in public so its all now happening behind closed doors. As a man, I can only assume that the people involved in the acts have some kinda power fantasy, and screwing an unconscious woman is a fairly straight forward power move imo. Is it surprising that the numbers involved are what they are? Not really imo. I mean, yeah, compared to straight forward once off rape, its pretty bad. But not unexpected imo. I reckon it's happening a lot more than people realise.

    I dunno, maybe its a sign of the times that people can get so upset at something like this, even if they're not involved with the victim. But shocking? Nah, I realised how horrible and depraved humanity can get a long time ago. Thankfully the majority of those involved will be brought to justice.

    Personally, I can't see the attraction. I like feedback, and indeed half of my enjoyment comes from their enjoyment, and if they not conscious...

    And before anyone tries to reflect some of that back at me, keep in mind i care as much about her as she does about me. I'm not going to pretend I'm upset or outraged, because I'm not. Plenty crap happening closer to home to hold those emotions for.

    Also, local to Paris is like saying local to Connacht. It's a massive area with 2.1 million people living there (Paris that is).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,550 ✭✭✭FishOnABike


    As I stated it is both a heck of a lot of men, "unimanigable in its enormity" from the victim's perspective but also a tiny number of men from a population perspective. I am not misrepresenting anything.

    I can't even begin to imagine the hurt caused by the depravity, depth, duration and quantity of her husband's and his his accomplices actions. I hope they get the justice they deserve and never see freedom again.

    I'm not trying to downplay the issue of sexual assault against women. A broadly targeted targetted consent education programme would be a pointless in this case.

    It is important to understand that these 70 were from a self selected group, further selected by the main protagonist for being at the extreme within that already self selected group, probably curated and compromised in some way so they would be unlikely to inform on the main protagonist when he finally invited them to his house.

    The protagonists are a tiny tiny minority of the population. If society does not recognise and act on that reality it will not effectively target and deal with them until after the fact.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Also, local to Paris is like saying local to Connacht. It's a massive area with 2.1 million people living there (Paris that is).

    And, Avignon is 90k people in an area of France where millions live on the corner of Gard (0.8 M), Vaucluse (0.6 M) and Bouches-du-Rhône (2 M) (2019).



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    And here's another one - is this local enough for you?

    The first one, top left, is L. Christian, sapeur pompier (fireman), deputy head of his fire station. Since the trial is public, the full names of the accused are posted up at the entrance to the court, and have been recopied around Twitter.

    So L. Christian turns out to be Christian LESCOLE, and the firestation where he is deputy head is Valréas, which also in Vaucluse, 55km from Mazan (Vaucluse). About 45 minutes' drive according to Google Maps.

    The article is from 2019 when he was given the job as deputy head of the station. Clearly the same guy.

    I mean, even if there were some who drove 500 km in order to come and rape her (there's zero evidence for this, but let's say it's the case for 50% of the 100 men that we know were aware of the multiple rapes of Gisèle, that would still leave 50 men all living fairly close by all ready to rape an unconscious woman, or to keep quiet knowing that other men were doing so.

    But we have a bunch of posters here who'd rather argue about exactly how far away they were than accept this.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 704 ✭✭✭Mr Disco


    you’re sounding very overwhelmed and overwrought



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,308 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    You're the one who keeps harping on about the places people are from. I make one mention of it in a longish post and you concentrate solely on that. Anything to say about the rest of my comment, or just looking for another poster to paint as... well, I dunno what you're trying to do tbh...

    Whether they came from far away or local, what does it matter? Scum is scum. I was just pointing out local to Paris is not a small area.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    And just below Christian Lescole, there's Redouane El Farihi. Mr El Farihi is a male nurse in Le Pontet, again, in Vaucluse, 50 km from Mazan.

    Again, compare the photos.

    Here's where the names are coming from: a photograph of the lists posted up outside the courtroom:

    So much for the determined attempts by some posters on here to cling doggedly to the belief that it's a tiny number of men spread thinly over a huge area ("stretching across Europe", was the claim made by @Overheal at one point)

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,211 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    Why is it a sad indictment of men as a whole?


    I don’t understand your question? I explained right after I made the point, why it’s a sad indictment of men as a whole. You even quoted it:

    there are men in what we like to believe is a civilised society who, when presented with an opportunity of committing rape in the belief they won’t face any consequences or punishment, are willing to avail of the opportunity when they believe it presents itself. 

    There was no being uncivil when it comes to men. You’re not alone either in finding it offensive that the men in your life would be mentioned in the same breath as these men. Most people understandably would, even the OP does, and I know I sure as hell do… and that’s precisely the point - we’re all offended by the thought that men we know would be associated with men who commit rape, whereas the focus of our attention should be on preventing men from committing rape. Because, at the risk of stating the blatantly obvious - women and girls aren’t committing rape on themselves.

    That’s why it’s a sad indictment of men that there are men in what we like to believe is a civilised society who engage in this sort of behaviour when the opportunity presents itself, or who engineer the opportunity for themselves, as this man did:

    https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/national-news/1556047/man-who-raped-and-assaulted-his-wife-for-25-years-of-hell-handed-life-sentence.html


    It doesn’t have to be as extreme as the case in the opening post, and it shouldn’t take such an extreme case to have men examine their consciences and ask themselves can they do more. That’s why I don’t have any insights for the OP into the minds of men who commit rape of women and girls, and also why I can understand the OP would be asking the question of men as to what can be done, or what more can be done.

    It’s why I can’t offer any practical advice, and I can only offer support, and do more to continue to campaign for changes which I believe are necessary in Irish legislation in order to ensure that 0.000001% figure being bandied about in the thread is reduced to 0%, because I’m not willing to just accept that there are bad people in the world, and that’s a sad reality - pointing out the obvious yet again, achieves nothing, and does nothing to change anything about that reality.

    France had the opportunity to adopt EU-wide legislation regarding rape in its national laws, they and other countries refused to do so:


    In its initial draft, presented on March 8, 2022, the European Commission proposed that the "crime of rape" rely on the condition that the victim had "not consented to the sexual act." Surprisingly, France was one of the member states (along with Germany, the Netherlands and Hungary) opposed to a Europe-wide definition of rape based on the notion of consent, which led the European Union (EU) to eventually give up on the idea.

    https://archive.ph/ihGNV


    I can’t do anything to change laws in France, but the least I can do is attempt to have laws in Ireland changed, and in significantly less time than the 30 years it took to change Irish law to what it is now. I dunno ‘bout you, but I was sick long ago of seeing -

    Pitiful sentencing:

    https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/the-sex-case-that-divided-a-town-and-shocked-a-watching-nation/26593097.html

    Suspended sentencing:

    https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/teen-avoids-jail-for-rape-despite-court-finding-suspended-sentence-was-too-lenient-1561815.html


    And thousands, literally thousands of rape complaints recorded annually, in Ireland:

    https://www.galwaydaily.com/news/nine-out-of-ten-recorded-rapes-in-ireland-end-nothing/?amp



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    No, it's just that you've joined in to a "discussion" that's been going for 2 days now by a number of posters trying desperately to prove that I've been lying about the fact that a large number of men from within a limited area were all prepared either to rape this woman or to keep quiet and let others rape her.

    50 men are on trial but there were over 70, plus another 30 who according to her husband refused to take part when they learned that she was actually unconscious and being raped rather than acting out a role play. That's a lot of men, no matter what. It makes a difference though if, as some have been trying and failing to prove, they were recruited "stretching across Europe" or if they were men within, say, fairly easy driving distance of the woman.

    It seems to me I've proven the latter.

    Nobody, OTOH, has found an example of, say, even one man from Brittany or Normandy or Lille who made the journey all that way. Let alone one from Germany or the Czech republic or elsewhere "across Europe".

    Now, we can either discuss whether that has any significance in estimating the number of normal-seeming men in the average town who would be willing to rape a woman if they could get away with it, or posters can go on pretending that this is just a tiny number of weirdos spread out over the whole of Europe, as @Overheal claimed (and then told me I'd read the article wrong 🙄).

    Because it's not.

    Post edited by volchitsa on

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    And fair play to you Jack. I admit I wasn't expecting anything even half as supportive as that from you.

    (I'd disagree with the claim that I "resisted any appearance of civility" 😁 - I think that under the circumstances I was far more civil than a number of posters here deserved!)

    TBF I accept the title was … undiplomatic, but at no point did I say "all men" nor anything like it. I certainly put my head above the parapet, and I knew that even talking about this subject would attract fury from some, no matter what the title might have been, but that's ok. As I said to another poster, I'm so done with "BeKind". Fk that. I care about women's health and safety, and if that entails saying things that hurt some men's feelings, tough.

    But thanks for those couple of posts - I appreciate it.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,159 ✭✭✭✭pjohnson


    Surprised you didn't expand "locally" to cover all of Europe.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    Reading-challenged are you? They only lived in two places while he was doing this. He didn't need to look all over Europe, he found men locally both times.

    If he'd lived in Ireland, no doubt he'd have found men near his home there too. Or in Italy or in Germany. That's the point.

    Because, while that really would have been "all around Europe", it would still have been very different from having to search all of Europe at the same time in order to find a few dozen in total. Different in terms of what it says about how many men in any one area are prepared/eager to rape a woman.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,159 ✭✭✭✭pjohnson


    "No doubt he'd have found men near his home"

    your misogyny is leaking again.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    So L. Christian turns out to be Christian LESCOLE, and the firestation where he is deputy head is Valréas, which also in Vaucluse, 55km from Mazan (Vaucluse). About 45 minutes' drive according to Google Maps.

    So, like I've been saying, they were not exactly local as you've been alleging:

    Twenty minutes to get there?? It takes about 10 hours to drive from the north to the south of France. 20 minutes is local. And that's just a random guy being interviewed. He wasn't chosen because his former friend was different from the others. He's typical of the 50 accused. That's the point.

    So yes, they were recruited locally. 

    You've been making overbearing claims that they were all etc. local that's what people have been calling you up on, I'm glad we could finally clear it up. Exactly how far away they were became central to your thesis: that good men everywhere were harboring 70 rapists at a time in damn near every "average town," among us because of and protected by bro culture etc., so you can't exactly be this upset that the claim was challenged on its validity, especially when knowing that these men all got networked together on the world wide web, not by some inherently local means (or as you entertained much earlier, an advert in the "local rag" might have nearly been got etc.). Even with just the 2 men you've specifically plucked out of the lineup, we've vastly broadened the parameters of the claim outside of Avignon and into the wider region. Of just the ones we've discussed so far I'd like to know if you know where the truck driver(s) or the soldier(s) were located from and we can see how much less local it is from the claims you've been egging on. I'm not confident you'll freely admit if you happen to learn of one living in a far flung provence or even abroad from France, it would jeopardize your thesis.

    It doesn’t have to be as extreme as the case in the opening post, and it shouldn’t take such an extreme case to have men examine their consciences and ask themselves can they do more.

    I don't know what you imagine that is unfortunately. Almost nobody on the planet was in a position to know about, or indeed stop these men from communicating on their seedy little forum or whatever means of communication they escalated their discussions to, such as Skype as the reporting mentions (bringing up another can of worms about internet privacy, eg. does the EU tear down digital privacy rights of 450 million people on the offchance costly mass surveillance catches hundreds or thousands of crimes).

    Men aren't having discussions about premeditating rape in person in the extent of my experience either. I don't know that say, any of Brock "Allen" Turner's friends knew what he was going to do. Nor do I buy the notion that it's an indictment on the entire population of the sex that Donald Trump chose to rape E Jean Carroll. And on, and on, and on. Though, like the EU case you bring up of legislation, it's at least noteworthy that NY's definition of rape is so frankly archaic, but I wish not to digress into his specific case, it's been discussed extensively. What I gleaned from the article you linked the nonconsent law was debated against over practical matters about investigation and enforcement?

    Criminal justice reform for Ireland bottom up, middle out, top and down, is a long time coming and seemingly still a long way off, not like it hasn't been discussed to death on the forums, but I absolutely agree the state of criminal justice in Ireland sounds paltry, and judges setting precedent of extreme leniency; that's going to take a monumental re-legislation of the Irish criminal statute to fix, new sentencing laws etc. which throws out the jurisprudence of leniency and forces the setup of a new standard for punishments. The money will have to come from somewhere, and the commitment, to greatly expand imprisonment however, a whole other can of worms. Nevermind the political will and the political mandate, millions of Irish voters who not only demand that from their legislators but follow through holding them to it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,253 ✭✭✭Former Former Former




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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    I don't think the police in the UK are particularly misogynistic

    Similar to here

    I fail to see the logic of expecting consultants to make a leap like that

    The drugging and sleeping with, if it was going on people would get caught

    One case ever maybe means it's rare



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Wrong again, it's Misandry. But both of you, A for effort.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    Does he live there? 40 mins is fairly local, you really are clutching at straws as usual

    No one said they were all local just most



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    ”*all* recruited locally”, “the average small town” is the claim. I’m not clutching at anything you don’t need to project so hard about your clutching - clutching so hard that you’ve lowered their claim of 45 minutes down to 40 minutes the next time we mention this will it be 30? It already had shot way up to 45 from the original claim of 20.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,253 ✭✭✭Former Former Former




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    One person still local, it like some in Dublin driving to the other side of dublin

    Plus making a leap that he live where he works

    it's been reported by credible non New York times sources that they are local

    There's no argument left

    Except the wall



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    there was never an argument that none of the men were local the New York Times, even explicitly calls out one of the men as being a local journalist, so I don’t know what you’re trying to Gotcha in this post



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Vaucluse, 55km from Mazan (Vaucluse). About 45 minutes' drive according to Google Maps

    by the way, what version of Google is that?

    strange that you would see the need to trim the drive time to suit your thesis idk



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    Of those I looked at above, they were all from the same administrative department, and I didn't leave any out, those were just the ones that came up.

    In France, that's local. A department is not like a state in the US. It's more like a county. And nobody, not even the non rapists, bothered calling the police. Not one man.

    You can try to spin that however you like but it's starting to say so much about you that you went from "stretched across Europe" to "the same department is not local and anyway some were always going to be local" while trying to make out that I'm the one who's got this wrong.

    Do you want a shovel or are you going to stop digging at some point? 🙄

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,211 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack



    I don't know what you imagine that is unfortunately. 

    Nevermind the political will and the political mandate, millions of Irish voters who not only demand that from their legislators but follow through holding them to it.


    You’re making it sound as though everyone is expected to take on some monumental responsibility in order to effect change in Irish society, but they’re not, and making out like they are is just coming up with barriers as an excuse to do nothing. Thoughts and prayers has always been a shìt plan, whereas action, that actually requires effort.

    To keep it simple and by way of giving you an example of individual actions which don’t require much effort:

    Couple of weeks ago a young woman was heading down the town at night when she happened upon a fella howling abuse at passers by. He knocked her unconscious and then boasted about it on social media, imagining there would be no consequences for his actions, but approval and validation from his mates.

    Boy did he get that wrong:

    https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/soldier-who-beat-woman-unconscious-and-boasted-about-it-on-snapchat-avoids-jail-1640501.html

    https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2024/0701/1457608-cathal-crotty-defence-forces/

    https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0711/1459319-cathal-crotty/

    She’s right - it is too little, too late, but it’ll make the next scumbag think twice before he does anything similar in a similar situation where he’s being called out on his already shìtty behaviour. If one young woman is brave enough to do that much and stand up to men like Crotty, it really should make you think about what you can do, before you’re asked to do it.

    She’s being criticised since for milking the publicity and being one of the ‘woke’ crowd and all the rest of the usual crap, but the thing is nobody would have known of her at all had it not been for Crotty choosing to take the opportunity when it presented itself to batter a young woman unconscious. That’s a useless coward, and rather than him being able to make an example of her, she set a much better example for herself and millions of girls and women like her.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    There was never an argument that everyone was local either just most

    So you have no argument

    Your gotcha was lame



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    ? Are we really back to the feigned shock and disbelief that rapist didn’t self report themselves to the police? I know what a department is. I referenced them in an earlier post when discussing how large the population of the tri-department area was.

    go on remind me since you may know better than I the person who wrote it. How did I say “stretched across Europe“ what was the context? Until you go through that entire list and tell me where all of the defendants are from and give us a table, we cannot say for sure they do not hail from all across Europe and we can sure as hell say that the investigation taking down website where they conspired Was investigated all across Europe.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    It's not one case ever. It's the biggest case ever gone to court yet because bringing in other men is a bit more unusual. But that may be related to what men want - and it's not usually watching other men have sex.

    Another reason (apart from the sheer number of men involved, some of whom went on to use his method on their own partners) for thinking it may not be nearly as unusual as people - including myself - have supposed, is the number of times and specialists Gisele Pelicot consulted about her memory lapses and her gyne problems. And not one of them thought of chemical submission. So if nobody even thinks of it, how is anyone going to identify it happening?

    And finally, I posted articles about three different cases of a man raping a sleeping, and in some cases definitely drugged, woman in Ireland. In each case a partner or a close friend.

    So if you mean, a 70 year old woman raped by multiple men at the instigation of her husband, yes I'd say that's as rare as Harold Shipman murdering hundreds of old people is for doctors. But this is far from the only instance of a man that a woman trusted drugging her to have sex with her. In fact I'd say this is the tip of the iceberg.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    I am confused that you think being an active participant in the civic process is a monumental effort. Pointing out the challenges and obstacles is not saying it can’t be done, it is underlining what has to be committed to by the Irish electorate to change the things you are levying grievances about, like suspended sentences and the like. This example you’re sharing does nothing to address suspended sentences so I don’t know how that’s a rebuttal to what I said about criminal justice reforms as a response to the criminal justice shortcomings you highlighted, agreeably, as a problem. This doesn’t simplify our exchange as much as you think it does IMHO it just muddies it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    Not the 72 rapists, as I said before. The 30 men who, when they learned that Pelicot wasn't just role playing with his wife but was raping her, said "No thanks" and left it at that.

    But you know this already.

    And as for across Europe, you got that wrong, and if you were being honest you'd admit it. The website was closed down after entirely separate investigations, 23,000 of them (do you really think that was all against one woman??) were made, because the site was being used to target men, especially gay men, for robberies.

    But again, you know that too.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 85,182 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    there absolutely has been that argument put forth, it is a claim central to the thesis of the OP:

    “He also didn't have to search too far to recruit the others - it was all within a fairly small zone. So unless there's some reason to think that particular small town and its surroundings make up some sort of "Little Britain" incestuous village - which AFAIK there isn't, then it's probably the same everywhere. Which means there are a lot of men living normal lives who are eager to rape an unconscious woman as long as her husband isn't going to punch their lights out.”



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    The difficulty in pulling this off is massive

    Ita very rare as in Shipman was rare

    Yourself and overhead should go on a date, well suited



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭monkeybutter


    It is not the case put forward

    What has been suggested is in line with what was reported you are just making up the rest because you can't admit being wrong



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,508 ✭✭✭volchitsa


    The above quote is fundamentally pretty accurate though. You and a couple of others have been trying to make out that I said "small ads in the local paper and suchlike, which I didn't. Your interpretation of what I said is wrong. And at this stage that can only be deliberate on your part.

    You can twist and turn all you like, but the facts are that a large number of men from a relatively small area, most with families and jobs, came to rape a nearly 70 year old woman who was so heavily drugged that the experts who saw the tapes said she was at risk of suffocating.

    You can try to minimise that as much as you like, but I think that says more about you than anything else.

    Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls: "Very concerned about statements by the IOC at Paris2024 (M)ultiple international treaties and national constitutions specifically refer to women & their fundamental rights, so the world (understands) what women -and men- are. (H)ow can one assess fairness and justice if we do not know who we are being fair and just to?"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,211 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    I am confused…

    Taking the five minutes to read the articles I posted might help inform your perspective. I say might, because it’s not guaranteed you wouldn’t still attempt to be so obtuse. Our exchange has been simplified massively, by being willing to meet half-way, so I’ll leave you get back to arguing the difference between local and international for all the good you imagine that’s likely to do. You’re likely already familiar enough with both systems to do the conversion between metric in Europe and Imperial in the US, so at least that’s one less confusion to be concerned about, which is progress, I guess 😒



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