People given unchecked power over other people. This shit happens EVERY time. From droit-de-seigneur to Pol Pot, to the shit that's going down in Israel /Palestine now. And it always brings it's focus back to women and girls. Religions tend to the patriarchal (I've not seen a traditional religion which does not) and patriarchy tends to the authoritarian. Authoritarians tend, sooner or later, to this sort of crap.