So, a few things:
- many of the men accused have stated that the husband pitched the idea as "this is a kink she really enjoys, being drugged and then having sex with strangers". (Of course they never pretend to have met her in person beforehand to get her consent for the whole thing in the first place)
- there are some that have said "what's the big deal? It's his wife, he gets to decide to lend her out to his friends." (!)
I don't know how many of the first group are being honest, but the existence of both can give you an idea of how bad our culture used to be towards rape, and still is to a large extent.
There's a pretty striking moment of archival footage, from the 60s or 70s I think, of some french dude being asked in the street "and you, have you ever raped a woman?" And his response is a very matter-of-fact "well, of course!".
People don't want to believe that rapists are, in many ways, just ordinary people. So they both refuse to see it in others, and refuse to see themselves as capable of even contributing to the problem. Hopefully this can be the wakeup call many men here in France need to realize they must push back when their friends make rape jokes, for ex.
Smart of Mata to tell them that. I like that they fight the hackers on their own "turf", so to speak, in the propaganda war. Makes their power and hegemony that much more believable.