It's actually very easy to see how a man's good intentions can produce exactly this outcome because he didn't understand how to respond or the emotional turmoil of the person who was victimized. They put all the decisions in her lap and would've accepted the outcome she determined, but they didn't understand what she was going through or how to appropriately respond, so the pressure of their position put her in a box where she couldn't make the right decision. Soft pressure, even unintentional, is extremely powerful. Good intent can produce terrible outcomes like this - not that I'm saying they definitely did have good intent, more than it doesn't really matter.