Elsevier

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 27, Issue 1, January 2003, Pages 47-61
Child Abuse & Neglect

To a safer place? Victims of sexual abuse by females and their disclosures to professionals

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(02)00509-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To explore the experiences of victims of female sex offenders with regard to disclosing sexual abuse to a professional, and importantly, the impact of professional responses on victims.

Method: The data were derived from one-to-one semi-structured interviews with 14 (7 males, 7 females) victims of child sexual abuse by female perpetrators. Victims ranged in age from 23 to 59 years and were recruited through professional referrals or through poster advertisements in counseling services. Participants responded to questions on their family background, experience(s) of sexual abuse, experience(s) disclosing the sexual abuse to a professional, and the impact of professional responses.

Results: The majority of victims reported sexual abuse by their mothers. The average age of onset of the sexual abuse was age 5, lasting, on average, 6 years. Five participants reported experiencing severe, moderate and mild sexual abuse, four reported experiencing both severe and mild sexual abuse and five reported experiencing moderate and mild sexual abuse. The findings underscore the significance of professional intervention in relation to victim disclosures of sexual abuse by females. Professional responses to disclosures, whether positive or negative, appeared to have a crucial impact on the well-being of victims. Supportive professional responses including the acknowledgment and validation of victims’ experiences of sexual abuse appeared to mitigate the negative effects of the abuse. In contrast, unsupportive responses where professionals minimized, or disbelieved victims’ allegations of sexual abuse appeared to exacerbate the negative effects of the sexual abuse, ultimately inciting secondary victimization.

Conclusion: The study highlights the need for the development and implementation of professional training initiatives to sensitize professionals to the issue of female sex offending and the intervention needs of victims. Failure to do so could have negative consequences for victims sexually abused by females.

Résumé

Objectif: Explorer l’expérience des victimes d’agressions sexuelles par des femmes sous l’angle de la révélation à un professionnel et particulièrement de l’impact de la réponse de ces derniers aux victimes.

Méthode: Les données proviennent d’interviews semi-directifs en face à face réalisés auprès de 14 sujets (7 de sexe masculin, 7 de sexe féminin) victimes d’abus sexuels de la part d’agresseurs de sexe féminin. Les victimes étaient âgées de 23 à 59 ans et avaient été recrutés grâce à des professionnels et par affiche dans des services de consultation. Les participants ont répondu à des questions sur leur milieu familial, sur leur expérience d’abus sexuels, sur leur(s) expérience (s) de la révélation àuprès d’un professionnel et sur l’impact de la réaction du professionnel.

Résultats: La majorité des victimes ont fait état d’avoir été abusés par leur mère. L’âge moyen au début était de 5 ans, et la durée moyenne de six ans. 5 participants ont fait état de sévices graves, modérés et légers; quatre de sévices graves et légers; cinq ont rapporté des sévices modérés et légers. Les résultats soulignent la signification de l’intervention du professionnel par rapport à la révélation d’abus sexuels perpétrés par des femmes. La réponse d’un professionnel à la révélation, qu’elle soit positive ou négative semble avoir un impact crucial sur le bien-être de la victime. Répondre professionnellement en soutenant la victime et reconnaı̂tre en la validant son expérience d’abus sexuel peut en amoindrir les effets négatifs. En contraste, les réponses où les professionnels minimisent ou n’ajoutent pas foi aux allégations d’abus sexuels semblent exacerber leurs effets négatifs, et peuvent aller jusqu’à inciter à une victimisation secondaire.

Conclusion: Cette étude souligne qu’il est nécessaire de développer et d’améliorer les initiatives pour la formation des professionnels dans le domaine de la sensibilisation au problème des abus sexuels dont les auteurs sont des femmes et aux besoins d’intervention des victimes. Ne pas le faire peut entraı̂ner des effets négatifs.

Resumen

Objetivo: Explorar las experiencias de vı́ctimas de abusadoras sexuales femeninas en relación a cuando les comunican a un profesional sobre el abuso sexual, y de mucha importancia, el impacto de la respuesta del profesional en las vı́ctimas.

Método: Los datos fueron obtenidos en entrevistas cara a cara semi-estructuradas con 14 (7 varones, 7 hembras) vı́ctimas de abuso sexual en la niñez por perpetradoras femeninas. Las vı́ctimas tenı́an edades de 23–59 años y fueron reclutadas a través de referimientos profesionales o anuncios en servicios de consejerı́a. Los participantes respondieron a preguntas sobre el historial familiar, experiencia(s) de abuso sexual, experiencia(s) confesando el abuso sexual a un profesional, y el impacto de las respuestas profesionales.

Resultados: La mayorı́a de las vı́ctimas reportaron que sus madres las abusaron sexualmente. La edad promedio del inicio del abuso sexual fue de 5 años, prolongándose por un promedio de 6 años. Cinco participantes reportaron experimentar abuso sexual severo, moderado y leve; cuatro reportaron experimentar tanto abuso sexual severo como leve; y cinco reportaron experimentar abuso sexual moderado y leve. Los hallazgos destacan el significado de la intervención profesional relacionada con la comunicación de las vı́ctimas de abuso sexual por mujeres. Las respuestas profesionales a estas confesiones, sean positivas o negativas, parecı́an tener un impacto crucial en el bienestar de las vı́ctimas. Las respuestas profesionales de apoyo que incluı́an el reconocimiento y validación de las experiencias de abuso sexual de las vı́ctimas, parecı́an mitigar los efectos negativos del abuso. Por el contrario, las respuestas de descalificación del abuso sexual donde los profesionales minimizaban o no creı́an los alegatos de las vı́ctimas de abuso sexual parecı́an exacerbar los efectos negativos del abuso sexual, incitando finalmente la victimización secundaria.

Conclusión: El estudio destaca la necesidad del desarrollo e implementación de iniciativas de entrenamiento profesional para sensibilizar a los profesionales sobre el aspecto de las abusadoras sexuales femeninas y las necesidades de las vı́ctimas en la intervención. El no hacerlo podrı́a tener consecuencias negativas para las vı́ctimas de abuso sexual por mujeres.

Introduction

The problem of child sexual abuse has gained widespread attention over the last two decades. However, the focus of much of the research has been on female victims of male perpetrators. While there is little doubt that males commit the vast majority of sexual offences reported to police and their victims are predominantly female (Snyder, 2000), women who sexually abuse children and their victims, whether male or female, have been largely ignored or neglected from serious study. Recent efforts have been made to examine female sex offenders in greater detail, particularly in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom from both a psychological perspective (Cooper, Swaminath, Baxter, & Poulin, 1990; McCarty, 1986, O’Connor, 1987; Rowan, Rowan, & Langelier, 1990) and a sociological perspective (Davin, Hislop, & Dunbar, 1999; Faller, 1987; Matthews, Mathews, & Speltz, 1991; Saradjian, 1996). However, an in-depth understanding of these women remains limited. Meanwhile, scant research has been conducted on victims of female sex offenders and their experiences and perspectives on the sexual abuse. Particularly under-researched has been victims’ encounters with professionals in the child welfare system and their experiences with disclosure. This paper thus explores, from the perspectives of victims, professional responses to victim disclosures of sexual abuse by a female and their subsequent impact.

The issue of women who sexually abuse children has tended to rouse strong, albeit opposing societal reactions. On the one hand, the topic frequently evokes impassioned reactions of revulsion and outrage (Birch, 1993, Denov, in press). On the other hand, sexual abuse by females is often perceived by the general public to be less harmful and less serious than sexual abuse by males (Broussard, Wagner, & Kazelskis, 1991; Finkelhor, Williams, & Burns, 1988). Although societal responses to female sexual offending appear to reflect two divergent extremes, it is arguable that the responses of outrage and ambivalence both stem from the common belief that women are incapable of committing sexual offences. Indeed, a sexually abusive female does not fit with the cultural construction of femininity (Saradjian, 1996). To be considered “feminine” means to be nurturing, protecting, and caring, and to be nonaggressive and nonsexual. Larson and Maison (1987) note:

“Socially, we, as a culture, find it particularly difficult to think that women would sexually abuse children. Our Judeo-Christian heritage places enormous emphasis on women as warm, nurturing mothers ... . We struggle with the notion of women, particularly mothers, being sexual at all” (p. 30). To accept that women sexually abuse children thus requires challenging powerful stereotypes about motherhood and female-child relationships.

Given the divergent societal attitudes to female sex offending, it is of interest to explore professional responses to female sex offending, particularly because of professionals’ close contact with both victims and perpetrators. The emerging literature in the area has begun to reveal the ambivalent and sometimes dismissive professional responses to allegations of female child sexual abuse in the child welfare system. For example, Hetherton and Beardsall (1998) identified gender biases in the decisions of social workers and police working in child protection. They found that sexually abusive females may be permitted to drop out of the child protection system simply by virtue of their gender. The authors presented police officers and social workers with identical case vignettes of sexual abuse involving either a male or female perpetrator. Both professional groups considered that social service involvement and investigation were less warranted when the perpetrator was female. Case registration and imprisonment of the male perpetrator was considered more important by both professional groups.

Ramsay-Klawsnik (1990) found that among cases of 83 children who had been sexually abused by a female, only one of the female offenders was subjected to criminal prosecution. The females were not prosecuted despite that fact that the abuse was confirmed through diagnostic evaluation and was often sadistic in nature. In 56% of the cases, the abuse included burning, beating, biting or pinching the breasts or genitals of the children, or tying them up during acts of sexual assault. Denov (2001) found that the denial of women as potential sexual aggressors was integral to understanding police and psychiatrists’ constructions of female sex offending. As female sex offending challenged traditional sexual scripts concerning ‘appropriate’ female behavior, both professional groups, either consciously or unconsciously, transformed female sex offenders and their offences, realigning them with more culturally acceptable notions of female behavior. This ultimately led to a denial of the problem.

Although the above studies have highlighted ambivalent professional responses to female sex offending, few authors have explored the implications of such responses on those who may be most affected by them—the victims. The voices and perspectives of those sexually victimized by females have rarely been sought. There is a limited understanding of victims’ experiences of sexual abuse, how victims perceive professional reactions to their disclosures, and importantly, the consequences of these professional responses. To fill the critical gaps in the empirical literature, this paper explores through a qualitative analysis three aspects of victims’ experiences. First, it provides a portrait of victims sexually abused by females in childhood, exploring the frequency, duration, and severity of the sexual abuse. Second, the paper examines victims’ experiences with disclosure to professionals and victims’ perceptions of professional responses to their disclosure. Finally, it describes the consequences of these professional responses on victims.

Section snippets

Methodology

This study of victims of female sexual abuse is part of a larger study which explores both victim and professional perspectives on female sex offending. Sexual abuse was defined as the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children or adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, and to which they are unable to give informed consent and that violate the sexual taboos of family roles (Schecter & Roberge, 1976). Victims of child sexual abuse were defined as

A portrait of victims sexually abused by females in childhood

This section provides a portrait of the sample of victims, outlining the victim/perpetrator relationship, the age of onset of the sexual abuse, its frequency, duration, and level of severity (Table 1).

Discussion

The findings underscore the significance of professional intervention in relation to disclosures of victims of sexual abuse by females. Professional intervention, whether positive or negative, appears to have a crucial impact on the well-being of victims. Supportive professional responses including the acknowledgment and validation of victims’ experiences of sexual abuse appeared to mitigate the negative effects of the abuse. In contrast, unsupportive responses where professionals minimized or

Study limitations

The study’s greatest limitation lies in its sample size. As a result of the small sample, the data generated from this study cannot be generalized to the wider population of victims sexually abused by females. While a qualitative approach was chosen because it provides important depth and detail from a small number of participants, it fails to provide demonstrable patterns concerning victims’ experiences.

Operational definitions chosen for this study, by necessity, limited the findings. Sexual

Implications for professional policy and practice

To meet the needs of victims of female sex offenders, professionals should be reminded that sexual abuse by females occurs and encouraged to respond in the same supportive way as the more common cases of sexual abuse by males. Examples of good professional practice were identified by several victims who maintained that supportive professional responses, upholding principles of sensitivity and a nonjudgmental attitude, contributed to their healing. These positive professional responses, if more

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