12/19/2024
It is, in my clinical opinion, extremely irresponsible to say that the men who did what they did in this case had "unique" histories of childhood trauma given how high the rates of domestic violence are globally, with men generally being the perpetrators. That doesn't make their histories unique, it actually makes them pretty common.
At the start of a trial that has transfixed France for months, some commentators called the 51 men accused of ra**ng or sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot “Mr. Everyman,” suggesting their actions were an indication and indictment of the misogynist attitudes of men at large.
But as the judges, prosecutors and lawyers pored over the details of their lives, a more complicated portrait has emerged. Many of them have dark pasts, including histories of criminal convictions or abuse.
“These are not Mr. Everyman who committed these acts,” Annabelle Montagne, a psychologist who performed court-ordered examinations of half of the defendants, said in an interview.
“We find frequently, even systematically I would say, in the personal and childhood histories of the accused a chaotic family environment, psycho-traumatic experiences, a pathological family dynamic,” she said.
Verdicts are expected this week against all of the accused, and the question of how unusual these men are is shaping how France views one of the most consequential criminal trials in its modern history.
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