Harvey Weinstein, R Kelly, Crispin Odey, Jeffrey Epstein, David Carrick, Dominique Pelicot, Mohammed al Fayed…. It’s a brutal list, even with so few names on it. You could add others of course, covering dozens of pages.

When we wrote the SafeLives strategy in 2018, we included this phrase: ‘Societal shifts see a reduction in the motivation and opportunity for different types of power to be abused’. We knew these were major, generational shifts we were calling for. But I wonder whether as a society we’re even in the foothills of either part of this work, the motivation or the opportunity.

Motivation to commit interpersonal crime, including rape, is a complex, nuanced, multi-layered issue. Putting in place all the right mitigation will take really thoughtful work over many years. This work has started, but needs to be expanded. Policing has a role, but is unlikely to be in the lead.

There’s less excuse for us to still be so far back in reducing the opportunities for power to be abused, though.

It’s crucial that we don’t feel defeated by the word monster. It suggests a mythic, magical power that can’t be constrained. Whereas actually, the ability to fetter someone’s abuse of power lies in many mundane, day-day activities. HR procedures. Safeguarding awareness. Whistleblowing hotlines. Ways to access the police. We have those.

What we’ve done less well is inject the accountability and transparency which shines a light on abuses of power. Quite the opposite, we hear repeatedly that not only were these individuals hiding in plain sight, they were supported by networks of facilitators who actively helped with their activities. We rely on phenomenally brave victims and survivors of these crimes to fight back.

It became common currency in law enforcement 15 years ago to go after the ‘enablers’ of organised crime. Lawyers, medics, estate agents, private security guards, even companies selling fancy cars, race horses and boats. Organisations in the UK and beyond developed plans to systematically target the supporting infrastructure which criminals rely on.

I don’t know the individual culpability of people around Mohammed al Fayed or the other men on my list. But I do know that if we’re going to halve violence against women and girls by 2034 – the government’s ambition – then it will be crucial to target both the individual perpetrators and the system which holds them so securely in place. Let’s make our safety net fit to catch a monster.