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