Another Pelicot in Manchester

Yes, this is true. The internet has emboldened many antisocial, criminal and paraphilic elements, by giving them platforms and places to associate.

But what I was really referring to is the negation, and often hatred, of women by men, as a class.
I think it is deeper than sexual opportunism. Patriarchy, sexism, DV, sexual opportunism, rape, sexual assaults and more arise from men's deep rooted attitudes to women.

'Sex positivity' just plays into this and gives men a ready made narrative of 'sex game gone wrong'.

It is the result of the frustrated male sex drive given free reign to express itself ( and organise) via exposure to the internet and the ability to associate with others that it nurtures. It is in the nature of males to be sexually opportunistic - even the 'nice' ones. Many will maintain some boundaries of acceptable behaviour or conduct, but clearly many don't.

The time scale involved ( decades) and the number of men involved suggest that this is just the tip of the ice-berg and this particular 'practice' is widespread.

Perhaps partners accompanying women to appointments should be seen as a potential red flag. Of course there are many genuine and good reasons why a man might accompany his partner, but it could also be an indicator of control.

Gisele Pelicot’s husband used to accompany her to doctors’ appointments when she was trying to find the causes of her gynae issues and STIs. That struck me as the very depth of cynicism.

Christ. What a thought.

Maybe we need to help girls and women learn more about coercive control and abuse. I would imagine that might be easier than trying to guess what are likely to be quite vague signs and symptoms?

Will the police or the government issue a list of symptoms or behaviours that women can use to recognise this offence? A checklist so women can consider the potential of their partners being raping deviants.

It’s probably useful to send it to GPs too, to screen for victims of this abuse.

Bloody hell @MyNameIsTina

And there's another layer of victims - the families of those men.

Not all men they tell us...

I've met this paramedic through work.

It is. I’ve said before on MN, I now think the proportion of males who are a threat is massively more than I've mistakenly assumed for much of my life. And the worry is that things are getting worse, not better, fuelled of course by the internet.

That’s terrifying Arabella.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/02/international-network-drug-facilitated-rape-uncovered-by-uk-crime-agency

'Since it began investigating an online forum in October last year, the NCA has identified more than 270 individuals linked to that forum and its successors.
Nigel Leary, the NCA’s deputy director, said it had disseminated more than 210 “intelligence packages” relating to suspects and potential victims to law enforcement partners in the UK and overseas, with more than 90% of those being sent abroad.
Leary said: “We believe we have uncovered a truly international network with group members identified in dozens of countries spanning every continent.” He said domestically the intelligence packages had resulted in at least 14 separate investigations, with eight victim-survivors safeguarded.
He said online platforms were “enabling and supporting direct offending”.
“We’ve seen users actively engaging with other like-minded individuals discussing in graphic detail how they want to drug their victims to commit the most heinous sexual abuse,” Leary said.
“Discussions include inviting other people to take part in the sexual assaults, seeking advice on the best drugs or sedatives to use and how to administer them, asking for specific abuse to be conducted and filmed, and also coordinating offending, arranging to rape and abuse victims, sharing methodologies and developing tactics to avoid detection.
“In many of the cases we’ve seen so far, individuals have become victims of sexual assault crimes while sedated,” he said, adding that people may not even be aware it had happened.
Leary said the scale of what investigating officers had seen so far was “deeply concerning”, and that this was “no longer isolated behaviour, but increasingly organised”.
“Intelligence indicates there have been, and are other groups, many as yet unidentified by law enforcement, still involved in this type of offending,” he said, adding that cases were “almost certainly under-detected and under-reported”.'

From what little I've read, the internet is facilitating the abuse.

Men with these grotesque interests are able to network.

It's so horrible.

There must be so many more cases. The sheer number of sick men obsessed with doing this means there must be many more victims.

He needs a whole life order for this.

Absolutely sickening. Are men getting worse or is it just that more of them get caught now/we hear more about it because of the 24 hour news cycle?

My thoughts are with the victim. 20 years! I hope she can heal or find a way to live with some degree of peace.

Urgh. The list of men who were also apparently complicit.

How many men are depraved? How many men are happy and willing to rape?

I vowed six years ago never to go near another man ever again. Best decision I ever made.

I remember reading about this previously, when the other men involved were all first accused. Can anyone remember how it came to light? It really is absolutely terrifying. How can they do this?

'The 12 other men, who deny all of the charges against them, are:

• Karl Lindsay, 56, the former chief executive of Taunton Town FC.

• Daniel Rayner, 42, from Whitstable, Kent.

• David Graves, 59, from Derbyshire.

• Jonathan Kirk, 43, a senior paramedic from the Stockport area.

• Graham Brougham, 74, from Northwich, Cheshire.

• Philip Wild, 58, who used to own a taxi service and is from the Stockport area.

• Mohammed Sabir, 28, a recruitment consultant from the Stockport area.

• Sean Peers, 38, from the Stockport area.

• Jordan Wallace, 31, from Manchester.

• Alan Keelan, 42, who used to coach an under-16s football team and is from Greater Manchester.

• Richard Townsend, 37, from Greater Manchester.

• Robert Stewart, 70, from the Stockport area, who denies conspiracy to rape and two counts of rape.'

There's a significant subsection of men who are utterly depraved. May the bastards rot in prison and the woman they abused heal in all possible ways.

I hate to say it but it makes me more and more wary of men in general. So many involved in the Pelicot case, from a fairly small geographical area. Its abhorrent. What is wrong with them?

Fucking hell.

My thoughts with this poor woman.

I'm just so aghast and appalled that these cases seem to be happening so often. How the fuck can it be stopped?

Yes.