Why we struggle to believe the Lucy Letby story from a psychologist’s point of view

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy While many people might be asking specific, searching questions about why nurse Lucy Letby murdered so many babies in her care, as a feminist and psychologist I am struck by the way misogyny and gender roles mean that we struggle to see women as violent or abusive at all. But what happens when the same misogyny which harms women every day also positions them as incapable of committing violent acts, abuses – even murders? Not only do we struggle to see women as violent, but in cases where women abuse and kill children, we often scratch around for evidence that a man made them do it, because we conclude that women cannot possibly be capable of such atrocities without a man forcing her, or coercing her. The real question is: if women are capable of all of these violent abuses, murders, harm and crime – why do so few of us choose to commit them?