IMF head Strauss-Khan charged with sexual assault, attempted rape and imprisonment of hotel maid in New York

Good point re: seducer, MooncupGoddess

Like Casanova - i read some of that book once and was aghast, he was (mainly) a rapist, including of children. "World's Greatest Lover" says who?

For those who understand french this interview is so revealing: zonetopsecret.kazeo.com/Scandale/DSK-Accuse-de-viol,a263762.html

I think the context is determining the reporting at the moment. Any controversy involving a high-profile figure is meat and drink to the conspiracy theorists.

Interesting to see this in the Guardian:

'Strauss-Kahn's allies said he was a well-known seducer but the allegations of attempted rape seemed far-fetched and unlikely.'

'Seducer', eh? Isn't this really a term for someone who persuades someone to have sex when they didn't originally want to? Perhaps not a massive step from this to outright sexual assault.

Good on the NY police for reacting so swiftly (though of course we can't jump to conclusions, innocent until proved guilty, etc). This should send a signal to all powerful sexual predators who think women are there to be used for their pleasure.

The egos of many prominent men accused of rape and/or sexual assault seem to be so inflated that they cannot accept that they could fall foul of sex-crime laws due to their own conduct alone. They have to see themselves, and be seen by their supporters, as worthy of being the target of a huge political conspiracy designed solely to prevent them from exercising their self-styled entitlement to "run/save the world". They are probably much less indispensable in that "saviour" role than they like to think.

to answer how do people like this end up in places of power in the world, , i think thats exactly it: this is not a sex thing, clearly as has been stated, its a power thing, and people who run rough shod over others, generally run rough shod over others, be it underlings, opponents, or chambermaids. its the same, scenario, and its about power.

people like this get in power because they take. Socrates said, those who would run for political office would never deserve it and those that would deserve it would never run.

schwartzaneger comes to mind (but the spell checker doesnt)

Larry, it's quite comforting really how you pop up on these threads to try and convince us of our wrongness, and that you are again vindicated

Your brand of sexism is at least signposted quite satisfactorily and can be seen a mile off

Well, here we all are again.

French politics may well be a very dirty business, but why is a far-reaching international smear conspiracy MORE or even AS plausible an explanation for what lies behind this story than the suggestion that a woman was attacked and sexually assaulted by a man in a position of power over her? The former is not what most of us regard as an everyday occurrence. The latter unfortunately is.

How on earth do conspirators find these women willing to make false assault claims for money and undergo horrendous drubbings in the press, ruined lives, drawn-out trials etc in the process? Is there a website directory for them (International Feminist Conspiracy Actors.org)? And how do they pay the women off without anyone subsequently noticing?
If it's a conspiracy, has the NYPD Special Victims Unit been got at as well? Or is the maid Mata Hari good enough to fool a team of specialist and experienced detectives? Perhaps the US government is helping out, though it is unlikely they give a monkey's toss whether Strauss-Kahn succeeds Sarkozy (little prospect French foreign and NATO policy would change unduly if he did).

So many questions.

By the way, I am not assuming it's a true bill, I just despair at how the 'conspiracy' line gets trotted out AGAIN because a prominent man has been accused of a sexual assault.

I think this case is a sharp display of how rape is about power. The backstory is extraordinary. He gets on whichever plane he wants through a "long-standing agreement" with Air France. He has $3k a night hotel suites. He pays no tax on his salary. Is it any wonder this man appears to think he can fuck whomever he wants as well?

All we really know is that an allegation has been made, and an arrest has ensued. Unless there is a fundamental lack of trust in the US judicial system, then what we can expect is that there will be a proper investigation and, if sufficient evidence exists, a trial. The allegations have been taken seriously thus far, irrespective of the position of the alleged attacker. It would be premature and wrong to speculate on likely guilt as we don't have all the evidence.

Jesus - I live in France and have yet to speak to a single person who thinks this is a 'set-up'.

Apparantly before this incident the Sarkozy-ites had more than enough dirt to damage any serious presidential aspirations.

I am shocked beyond belief at the complacency that has gone on prior to this though, and how a man with his history has managed to get to such a position of respect and power.

celadon, I thought that suggestion on R4 was utterly bizarre as well. The interviewee handled it very well though - completely shot him down! I think it's possible the interviewer didn't quite mean it the way it came across - I think he might have been trying to suggest that DS-K is an even more unsavoury person than originally thought, so should he have been open to more scrutiny by the French press. But I am trying really hard to give the benefit of the doubt there!

I am pretty aghast at that article - "womanising" does not equal "not many female journalists are prepared to interview him alone these days".

What - because he's a "womaniser" so tempting that they won't be able to resist his charms? Or because he's a sex attacker, essentially?

I see another woman, the wife of a former minister, quoted in the Telegraph article: "Who hasn't been cornered by Dominique Strauss-Kahn?"

Can't believe no-one has stopped him before now. Terrifying that he has so much power.

Yes because if there's one allegation that is always taken seriously it's rape, Larry.

I don't know the truth of this and nor does anyone else on here, but I tend to give people making rape allegations the benefit of the doubt unless there's good reason to believe otherwise. And "ooh it's all a conspiracy" is not a good reason.

I have been particularly at the BBC coverage. All this talk of a colourful love life, wtf? Agree that a lot of the reports seem to conflate this and sexual assault. It's not a great message.

Prince,

You are right I did wander accidentally into the feminist section. No interest in posting here. Just saw an interesting topic and added my view. I am sure the topic will appear in "chat" or "AIBU" and lead to an interesting discussion.

Just for your info:

If someone makes an stupid statement ("no plausible scenario"), then they are either ignorant or stupid. This is true whether they are called John or Jane. And, in the hypothetical situation that this is a political set up (I did not say that it was, merely that we needed to see more evidence) then it would be "crying rape".

But I know that this is a section where argument is used ad hominem rather than dealing with facts so I will continue to discuss it when it pops up elsewhere.

Celadon,

You are struggling to think of a plausible scenario?! Then you either lack imagination or are hugely ignorant of French politics.

DSK is contesting the French Presidency in a year's time and he is the hot favourite. Sarkozy (or someone in his party) could easily arrange for a maid to cry rape against DSK and, even if unproven, he ceases to be a serious presidential contender. It is definitely motive enough and a plausible scenario.

I think we need to wait to see the evidence on this one before jumping to conclusions. Most of the French (women and men) seem to think it is a set up.