I find this aspect of the novel distressing. They are the real agents of the devil. It they who perpetrate the greatest evils of society, and it is their house that contains evil like some magic realm, influencing all who come within its bounds. So it is there that he takes Clarissa, and it is there that, through Lovelace, the whores violate her. Belford's attitude thus absolves Lovelace of part of the responsibility.
Bad women victimize men as well as other women.
I'm interested in Ellen's suggestion that Lovelace is not a criminal, but I need a bit more clarification on why. I'm not convinced that he's not a criminal because he fears her, or because he is not a bully. So now I have to type this one all over again. I think that part of the answer to this question is couched in the letter that Belford writes to Lovelace immediately after the rape. The thrust of the letter is to humiliate Lovelace for the failure of the rape, but also to force Lovelace to admit that he himself was the cause, not the whores.