“Female desire is so powerful”: why some women are attracted to serial killers

Romain Rouillard 9:45 p.m., February 28, 2024

What pushes a woman to plunge into the arms of a murderer, whose preferred targets are precisely women?

This is the complex question that journalist Valérie Benaïm tried to answer through a work entitled

, published by Fayard.

The columnist for

, on C8, was the guest of Europe 1 Soir this Thursday and deciphered, on Hélène Zelany's microphone, the reasons which lead certain women to form a romantic relationship with a criminal. 

Should we see a fascination with evil?

Not only that, according to Valérie Benaïm.

"There is, in everything that will constitute the layers of attraction, a component which will be that of rubbing shoulders with evil, of dancing on the edge of the precipice, of thrill. But I do not believe that this is the most important component. more obvious.

For the journalist and television host, everything is essentially based on “feminine desire”.

“This desire is crossed by many things, but it is so powerful, at least this one, that women imagine that their desire is sublimating.” 

A desire capable of “transforming lead into gold” 

For Valérie Benaïm, this desire is capable of "transforming lead into gold, of transforming the bad boy into an almost ideal man. A desire so powerful that it will sweep away everything in its path".

Women who share a desire, deeply rooted in their hearts, to prove that the man in question is not the monster who disgusts everyone and that there is a nuance between the man and the crimes he commits.

Women eager to explore the other side of these men with their hands full of blood and convinced that "this other side will come and crush the image, what it has done to superimpose itself and take precedence", analyzes Valérie Benaïm . 

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- Marie-Josée, victim of a serial killer: “It was my strength of character that saved my life”

His work, on this theme and available in bookstores since February 14, was released almost a month to the day after the announcement of the paternity of Nordahl Lelandais, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of little Maelys, 8 years old. , and 20 years in prison for having killed Corporal Arthur Noyer.

News which shocked public opinion and aroused curiosity about these women who fall in love with repeat criminals. 

Scientifically, this attraction is called hybristophilia.

“What these people have in common is that they operate within a standardized framework, but they equate pleasure with breaking the rules. Starting a relationship with a man who has dared to go beyond the norms is a way of satisfying their desires. They completely omit the monstrous part of the criminal,” psychologist Marjorie Sueur recently explained to Europe 1.