Segons el Center for Sex Offender Management dels EUA, s'estima que 1,6 milions d'homes i 1,5 milions de dones van ser víctimes d'abusos sexuals quan eren petits per part de dones. A causa de la manca d'estandardització en la informació, combinada amb les inconsistències en els mètodes d'investigació i les diferents definicions generals d'abús sexual es molt difícil d'obtenir un nombre precís de les víctimes realment existents.
Les estimacions varien en funció del nombre i tipus de delicte que es tracti. Dues investigacions han trobat que el 42,4 dels abusos, segon un estudi, i el 43 per cent, segons l'altra estudi, van ser realitzats per dones. Un estudi més recent realitzat pel Departament de Justícia dels EUA va trobar que el 95% de les agressions sexuals denunciades per joves reclosos en centres de menors les havia comès personal femení. Un altre estudi que va analitzar més de 17.000 supervivents d'abusos sexuals en la infància, va trobar que el 23% dels mateixos van ser abusats sexualment per una dona, mentre que un altre 22% ho van ser per un home i una dona.
La investigació mostra que l'existència de dones delinqüents sexuals -cosa que fins ara es considerava molt rara- és més comú del que es creia. Depenent de la naturalesa del delicte, el percentatge pot disparar-se. El mite de que la majoria de les dones delinqüents sexuals actuaven sempre amb una parella masculina també s'ha trencat a través de la investigació en curs. La pregunta que això planteja és "per què ho fan?". Un cop més, la resposta és complexa. Tan complexa com en el cas dels delinqüents sexuals masculins.
Sexual Abuse of Males
Female Perpetrators
Contents
Below is a list of books and papers. It is not comprehensive, but does include some excellent books and a PDF of a recent and very authoritative study (Dube et al., 2005). It includes one excellent book, by Michelle Elliott, that is accessible to all readers, three others written for professionals, and a number of papers.
I also recommend Female Offenders, a website and blog on women who sexually abuse children. There are many thoughtful and well-researched articles, including one on Mother-Son Sexual Abuse. You can purchase books listed below directly from the publisher or from an online bookseller.
The books:
Davin, P., Dunbar, T., & Hilsop, J. (1999). Female Sexual Abusers: Three Views. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press.
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).
Hislop, Julia. (2001). Female Sex Offenders: What Therapists, Law Enforcement and Child Protective Services Need to Know. Enumclaw, Washington: Issues Press. This comprehensive book has received rave reviews from the professionals for whom it was written.
Mathews, R, Matthews, J. K., & Speltz, K. (1989). Female Sexual Offenders: An Exploratory Study. Brandon, VT: Safer Society Press.
Miletski, H. (2007). 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.
The papers:
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.
Dube, S. R., et al. (2005). Long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse by gender of victim. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28, 430-438.
Etherington, K. (1997). Maternal sexual abuse of males. Child Abuse Review. 6, 107-117
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.
Via Maria Teresa Gimenez Barbat.
