He is now on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, facing charges of racketeering conspiracy, identity theft, extortion, forced labor, money laundering, wire fraud and sex trafficking.

Over the last several weeks, five women who were charged as his co-defendants, including Ms. Mack, pleaded guilty. Prosecutors have told jurors in the case that Mr. Raniere claimed to be a guru but was actually a charlatan who used Nxivm as a vehicle to control women.

Former members have said that Mr. Raniere encouraged female followers to nearly starve themselves so that they might achieve the sort of physique he found most appealing.

In court on Monday, Mr. Vicente said that one group within Nxivm, which included men and women and was called Society of Protectors Complete, promoted what he called “formalized misogyny.”

He said that women within that group were given mantras to repeat, were “teased” over their clothing and made to hold weights for long periods. One woman, Clare Bronfman, the Seagram’s liquor heiress, was given a jockstrap, Mr. Vicente said, as a sign that she was too assertive. Mr. Vicente said that the sessions were informed by the belief, encouraged by Mr. Raniere, that men are the “arbitrators of reality” while women are “coddled” and “less than human.”

“They became shells of themselves,” he said of the women in those meetings. “They almost looked like they were beaten into submission.”

Mr. Raniere also sought out romantic and sexual relationships with women in Nxivm, Mr. Vicente said. He said he had witnessed moments of tenderness between Mr. Raniere and female members, including Ms. Mack.