Female Perpetrators

Fast Facts:

• In a study of 17,337 survivors of childhood sexual abuse (46% male / 54% female), 23% had a female-only perpetrator and 22% had both male and female perpetrators. ( Dube, Shanta R et al. “Long-Term Consequences of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Gender of Victim.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (2005):28(5), p 430 – 438.)
• The rates of domestic violence is approximately 25-33% across sexual orientation and gender identity. For example, the rates of domestic violence between lesbian couples are comparable to that of heterosexual couples. ( Brand and Kidd, 1986, ; Koss, 1990 ; Lockhart, White, Causby, and Isaac, 1994 ; Harms, 1995 ).
• FORGE’s study of 265 transgender survivors of sexual violence in 2005 indicated that 29% had one or more female perpetrators. (Munson, M, Cook-Daniels, L. Sexual Violence in the Transgender Community. FORGE:2005. Multiple documents available at http://www.forge-forward.org/transviolence/survey_results.php)

Victims of violence from female perpetrators frequently have added layers of struggle in healing from their abuse, in part, because our culture has created a universal mindset (stigma) that only men are perpetrators of violence against women. The following resources may be useful in helping understand the unique implications for survivors of female perpetrators.

Websites:

The Network / La Red

(Ending abuse in lesbian, bisexual women’s and transgender communities)

http://www.thenetworklared.org/

Making Daughters Safe Again

(A website supporting females who were sexually abused by their mothers)

http://mdsa-online.org/

Stop Abuse for Everyone

http://www.safe4all.org/info

Books:

Allen, Craig. (1991). Women and Men Who Sexually Abuse Children: A Comparative Analysis. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press.

Anderson, Peter and Struckman-Johnson Cindy, Sexually Aggressive Women: Current Perspectives and Controversies, Guilford, 1998.

Berendzen, R, & Palmer, L. (1993). Come here: A man overcomes the tragic aftermath of childhood sexual abuse. New York: Villard Books.

Elliott, Michele (Ed.). (1993). Female Sexual Abuse of Children. New York: Guilford Press. Mike Lew, author of Victims No Longer, an excellent book for male survivors of sexual abuse, says of this book: "Michele Elliott and her colleagues guide us through denial, stereotypes, and conventional misinformation to an unflinching examination of painful realities. Theoretical, research, and clinical chapters help to forge a new understanding of the issues and set directions for further exploration. Many survivors, both male and female, will finally have their experiences validated. The powerfully moving survivors' stories will be vital tools for survivors in their healing and will aid therapists in understanding the complexities of recovery from sexual abuse by females" (from the cover).

Mathews, R, Matthews, J. K., & Speltz, K. (1989). Female Sexual Offenders: An Exploratory Study. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press.

Miletski, H. (1997). Mother-Son Incest: The Unthinkable Broken Taboo. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press.

Saradjian, J. & Hanks, H. (1996). Women Who Sexually Abuse Children: From Research to Clinical Practice (Wiley Series in Child Care and Protection) NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Articles:

Allen, C. M., & Pothast, H. L. (1994). Distinguishing characteristics of male and female child sex abusers. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 21, 73-88.

Bachmann, K. M., Moggi, F., Stirnemann-Lewis, F. (1994) Mother-son incest and its long-term consequences: A neglected phenomenon in psychiatric practice. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 182, 723-725.

Banning, A. (1989). Mother-son incest: Confronting a prejudice. Child Abuse & Neglect, 13, 563-570.

Baron, R. S., Burgess, M. L., & Kao, C. F. (1991). Detecting and labeling prejudice: Do female perpetrators go undetected? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 115-123.

Briere J., & Elliott D.M. (2003). Prevalence and psychological sequelae of self-reported childhood physical and sexual abuse in a general population sample of men and women. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 1205-1222. [includes statistics on females' perpetrating sexual abuse against boys and girls]

Condy, S. R., Templer, D. I., Brown, R., & Veaco, L. (1987). Parameters of sexual contact of boys with women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 16, 379-394.

Cook-Daniels, L. (2006). Seeing Past the “L”: Addressing Anti-Male Bias in Sexual Assault Services for the “LGBT” Community. Originally published in Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault Connections Quarterly Educational Journal , Fall/Winter, October 2006.

Faller, K. C. (1987). Women who sexually abuse children. Violence and Victims, 2, 263-276.

Fehrenbach, P. A., & Monastersky, C. (1988). Characteristics of female adolescent sexual offenders. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 148-151.

Finkelhor, D., Meyers, M. W., & Burns, N. (1988). Nursery crimes: Sexual abuse in day care. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Finkelhor, D., & Russell, D. (1984). Women as perpetrators. In D. Finkelhor (Ed.), Child sexual abuse: New theory and research (pp.171-187). New York: Free Press.

Harper, J. F. (1993). Prepuberal male victims of incest: A clinical study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 419-421.

Johnson, R. L., & Shrier, D. (1987). Past sexual victimization by females of male patients in an adolescent medicine clinic population. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 650-652.

Johnson, T. C. (1989). Female child perpetrators: Children who molest other children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 13, 571-585.

Krug, R. S. (1989). Adult male reports of childhood sexual abuse by mothers: Case descriptions, motivations and long-term consequences. Child Abuse and Neglect, 13, 111-119.

Lawson, C. (1993). Mother-son sexual abuse: Rare or underreported? A critique of the research. Child Abuse and Neglect, 17, 261-269.

Marvesti, J. (1986). Incestuous mothers: American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 7, 63-69.

McCarthy, L. M. (1986). Mother-child incest: Characteristics of the offender. Child Welfare, LXI, 447-459.

O'Conner, A. (1987). Female sex offenders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 615-620.

Sarrel, P. M., & Masters, W. H. (1982). Sexual molestation of men by women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 11, 117-131.

Wahl, C.W. (1960). The psychodynamics of consummated maternal incest. Archives of General Psychiatry, 3, 96/188-101/193.

Wakefield, H., Rogers, M., and Underwager, R. (1990). Female sexual abusers: A theory of loss. Issues In Child Abuse Accusations, 2, 181-195.