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When the world learned about the horrors inflicted upon Gisèle Pelicot by her husband and his fellow rapists in 2024, it was presented as a shocking anomaly.
I participated in a documentary about the case, and during filming was asked: “Could this happen again?”. My response was: “It already is, and is an extension of the domestic abuse and sexual violence that men are subjecting women to every day.”
We’ve since seen several more cases emerge. Earlier this year, CNN exposed a global “rape academy”. In this online network, men teach one another how to drug, assault and abuse their asleep, unconscious or incapacitated female partners. In early July, the UK National Crime Agency said it had uncovered a “truly international network” of drug-facilitated rape.
Meanwhile, in Germany, a 68-year-old man has been charged with drugging and raping 14 women he met on dating platforms and filming his attacks. Also in Germany, a 32-year-old doctor has been jailed for five years for aggravated rape. He was part of a chat group where he provided information about how to rape sedated women.
The material in these forums is graphic and disturbing. Videos show men exploiting unconscious women and lifting their eyelids to demonstrate that they are asleep or sedated. Content is categorised with tags such as “passedout” and “eyecheck”. Some videos have attracted more than 50,000 views.
The existence of such networks is unsettling not because they are entirely separate from society, but because they reveal and amplify attitudes and structures that already exist within it.
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This is not the doing of a few “monsters”. Thousands of men have participated in, viewed or financially supported these networks and videos.
Men who commit acts of violence are often not extraordinary or fundamentally different from other men. They can be ordinary men whose beliefs and actions have been influenced by the people around them, the groups they belong to and the social messages they receive.
Such messages stem from a foundation of gender inequality that is normalised around the world. Women are commonly denied sexual agency, while men are positioned as entitled to access women’s bodies. Understanding this does not excuse such behaviour, but it does help us see that sexual violence is not simply the result of a few “bad” individuals.
Read more: The Pelicot rape case revealed not a group of monsters but a culture that enables the abuse of women
The content of these networks shows us that this abuse is not about sexual desire. Like other forms of sexual violence, drug-facilitated rape is driven by power, entitlement, and the objectification of women’s bodies.
These online networks expose and reinforce a culture in which women’s consent, autonomy and bodily integrity are devalued. The celebration and sharing of such abuse among these groups reflects societal norms that legitimise male entitlement and domination.
Drug-facilitated rape is not a separate or exceptional form of violence from other rape and assault. It part of a wider continuum of male violence against women that includes sexual coercion, coercive control and domestic abuse.
The fact that these offences are commonly perpetrated by women’s partners reflects the persistence of gendered entitlement within relationships. This has been shaped by the historical context in which marital rape was legally permitted and women’s sexual autonomy denied.
Digital misogyny and online networks
While the norms underpinning this violence have a long history, digital technology has transformed how misogynistic content is shared and normalised. Encrypted messaging services, online forums and pornography websites enable users of these networks to connect globally, share abusive material and build communities centred on hostility toward women. These particular sites and tools are enabling a market for the types of abuse conducted in these networks.
My research on incels (involuntary celibates) shows how extreme online misogyny exists on a continuum with familiar forms of sexism. Content that objectifies women, dismisses their experiences or trivialises violence against them helps create a culture in which more overtly abusive behaviour appears less shocking.
The collective nature of these online communities may reduce feelings of individual responsibility. When abusive content is positively responded to, shared and engaged with, posters may perceive their behaviour as normal, making it easier to justify their actions.
Online platforms can also incentivise abusive content. Misogyny can become a source of status through views, likes, shares, comments and financial rewards. In drug-facilitated rape networks, users gain recognition and social capital by producing or sharing extreme material.
This dynamic is apparent even on more accessible social media, where women have been secretly filmed in public, with the videos shared online. Degrading and sexually explicit comments, along with likes and shares, reward this behaviour instead of condemning it.
Technology platforms help shape what people see and engage with. This means they must build safety into the design of the platforms, rather than relying on shutting down or removing harmful content once it has been created.
But drug-facilitated rape networks are not simply the product of technology or a few deviant offenders. They expose broader patterns of gender inequality, male entitlement and violence. Treating them as isolated horrors misses the bigger picture.
As author Jackson Katz argues in Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men’s Issue, the norms that underpin men’s violence against women are often linked to other forms of violence. Meaningful prevention requires men, institutions and communities to challenge the cultures that enable violence against women in the first place.
If you or someone you know is affected by the issues raised in this piece, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247, and other resources are available.
Author
Lisa SugiuraProfessor of Cybercrime and Gender, University of Portsmouth
Disclosure statement
Lisa Sugiura is affiliated with The Institute for Research on Male Supremacism
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