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October
Female Sex Offenders, Less Common Than Males But No Less A
Reality
Cases involving females are usually downplayed and treated with far less significance than are cases involving male perpetrators. I believe that much of the purpose behind this, is to avoid disrespect toward women in general and to avoid being offensive toward them but when children are involved, this should not be a consideration.
Let me say that I love and adore women. My wife, mother, daughter, sister and grandmothers are/were women but I honestly believe this protection of women in general, by not reporting on female sex abuse cases, or downplaying them, has gone too far in some respects. Women who sexually abuse are actually given excuses for these behaviors, when it is reported, including stating that they were “vulnerable" at the time or actually only seeking acceptance, support and romance and sex had little to do with it. These type statements simply are not based upon reality and the reporting of sexual offenders, both male and female, should be treated equally and perpetrators should not be given excuses for sexual abuse of minors.
It is also often said that women who are sex addicts, are also only seeking romance or trying to gain back some power, taken from them at some point, by a man. All of these type excuses are nothing but an attempt to mask the fact that some women have exaggerated cravings for sex and act out abnormally, just as some men do but to admit this is sometimes viewed as disrespect to all women in general. I do not believe stating the truth about women who do commit these acts, is disrespectful to the entire female sex, anymore than it is to state the truth about men who also commit sexually deviant behaviors.
I also do not believe women who appear in pornography, should be given excuses, such as saying that a man lured them into it etc… because these type statements tend to imply that women do not have a mind or will of their own and this too is simply not true in most cases. The fact is, many women appear in pornography, for the money and for sexual gratification, just as men do and women who are in that industry have stated this on media talk shows, many times.
In the UK , researchers who study child molestation, do not hold back or purposely skew statistics in regard to the percentage of women who sexually abuse children but freely publish these statistics. One such association, dedicated to educating the UK public in regard to child abuse, called “Kidscape", having a female director; Dr. Michelle Elliot, recently published statistics stating that 25% (1 in 4) cases of sexual abuse of children, is committed by women, the majority being mothers of these children. Another organization; the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in the UK freely admits that 65% of child abuse in general, is committed by women.
While statistics vary widely in regard to sexual abuse committed by women in the U.S. and statistics reported are usually in regard to men, one researcher; Dr. Patrick Carnes’, indicates that 20% (1 in 5) of sexual addicts are women. When it comes to sexual offenders in general, some U.S. statistics state that only 1% to 8% are committed by women, however, other more specific studies in regard to "types" of molestation, reveal statistics that vary greatly from the more general ones, for example, The Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute states that 40% of sexual abuse of children at daycares, is committed by women.
In regard to sexual abuse of school children, by female teachers, there have been at least 22 court cases of female teachers in various states of the U.S. since the year 2005 and the abused male students ranged in ages 12 to 16 years of age. Some websites list as many as 60 high-profile cases of female teacher abusers, over the past several years.
In some of these cases, there were multiple victims and also cases where the male victims were paid for sex. These are other reasons such cases cannot be excused as being committed by women who were simply seeking romance or who were simply going through vulnerable periods of time in their lives. If such excuses were legitimate, then these same excuses could be applied to cases involving males as well and you would certainly never see this.
Some sources that educate in regard to sexual abuse state that there are significant percentages of both male and female cases that are never reported. Some also point out that males do not open up about being victimized as easily or as often as females do and this is a factor affecting the accuracy of statistics. Some male victims have stated that they felt it was a threat to their masculinity to admit having been molested by a female and also an extreme embarrassment to them, for having been forced into sexual activity by a female perpetrator. I just recently heard such a testimony by a man who now participates in a full-contact fighting sport involving mixed martial arts. He stated that it took him over 20 years to admit the abuse and to openly talk about it.
Sexual abuse by men is far more common than that by women but whether the perpetrator is male or female, should not be a consideration when the media is reporting on it.
©2008, James M. Lowrance
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