It has been said on here before that sexual abuse by a female is under reported. It has also been pointed out that the statistics used in official reports are also misleading. The following are some excerpts from an article that demonstrates one reason why this is.
The article is titled Women paedophiles come out of hiding:
Women suspected of committing sexual offences have traditionally been treated differently by the criminal justice system, often being referred on to social services or welfare agencies for treatment. While male paedophiles tend to be viewed as predators, female paedophiles have in the past been regarded as mentally ill.
The author is quite right. The truth is that each case and each person is unique and some may very well be mentally ill, some may be predators, and some may be both, regardless of their gender.
When cases involving women offenders do go to court, they are often referred to family court for trial and are not reported because of confidentiality restrictions.
My question would be does this also apply to some cases involving male offenders?
The author does a good job at offering even more information about female sex offenders:
What has also led us to assume that women abusers are a rarity is that there is less reporting of sexual abuse by women. In their role as caregivers, women, like George, are the least suspected and the most hidden. Sexual abuses occur most typically against their own children, relatives, or with other children in their care. Many of the children are too young to be able to know what is being done to them, much less to complain about it. Older children may feel too guilty, ashamed, or, in the case of boys, emasculated to report it.
Research suggests that the incidence of mother-son incest is far greater than we imagine it to be. Again, there are various reasons why it does not get discovered: if the mother is a single parent, it is less likely to be spotted by a fellow adult. Then there is the nature of the behaviour – say, bathing an 11-year-old child. This would be considered abusive if carried out by a father, but merely eccentric or abnormal if done by a mother. And whatever the precise nature of the abuse, if it started at an early age it is likely to be regarded as ‘normal’ by the child.
The myth that women are not involved in child sexual abuse is being challenged with the explosion of internet child pornography and the high number of women users involved.
It is nice to see articles slowly starting to appear that address these issues and do so in the manner as was done here. As more research is done in this area I hope to see it move from just articles to some actual resources being made available for victims.
Quote from the article tilted – Women paedophiles come out of hiding
“When cases involving women offenders do go to court (in the UK), they are often referred to family court for trial and are not reported because of confidentiality restrictions.”
Media and public access to family courts put on hold
Monday 11 October 2010
The opening up of the family courts (in the UK) to the media and public has been put on hold until the outcome of the Family Justice Review is known, ministers announced today.
Justice minister Jonathan Djanogly and children’s minister Tim Loughton issued a written ministerial statement that said that although the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 sanctioned the opening up of the courts and had been given royal assent in April, the provisions had not yet commenced.
“This is a sensitive issue, on which a broad range of views have been strongly expressed. It is important that the Family Justice System is properly understood and commands public confidence. At the same time there is a clear need to protect the privacy of vulnerable children and adults involved in cases in the family courts.
“We have decided to wait until the Family Justice Review has published its final report before determining whether to commence these provisions, which will allow us to consider the changes Part 2 of the Act would introduce in light of the Review’s recommendations for reform of the family justice system.”
The move will be widely welcomed by children’s commissioner Maggie Atkinson, children’s charities, guardians and children’s lawyers who all campaigned fiercely against the opening up of the courts, claiming it would put children at risk.
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2010/10/11/115540/media-and-public-access-to-family-courts-put-on-hold.htm
Why? Female sex offenders are often called sluts, which is negative and are expected to be sexually restrained.
What? o_0