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‘FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE: MYTH & REALITY ’ SUSAN ROBERTS, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY & SHERRY ASHFIELD, LUCY FAITHFULL FOUN

‘FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE: MYTH & REALITY ’ SUSAN ROBERTS, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY & SHERRY ASHFIELD, LUCY FAITHFULL FOUNDATION. Introduction. gendered nature constructions sexual offending ‘male monopoly’ – perpetration child sexual abuse (Finkelhor 1986; Freel, 2003) masking reality (Denov 2003)

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‘FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE: MYTH & REALITY ’ SUSAN ROBERTS, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY & SHERRY ASHFIELD, LUCY FAITHFULL FOUN

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  1. ‘FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE: MYTH & REALITY’ SUSAN ROBERTS, SWANSEA UNIVERSITY & SHERRY ASHFIELD, LUCY FAITHFULL FOUNDATION gender & child welfare conference 2009

  2. Introduction • gendered nature constructions sexual offending • ‘male monopoly’ – perpetration child sexual abuse (Finkelhor 1986; Freel, 2003) • masking reality (Denov 2003) • male violence normalised (Peter 2006) • women – bad/evil/mad/victim gender & child welfare conference 2009

  3. The myths • rare/of little significance (Mathis 1972); aberration (O’Hagan 1989) • females do not sexually abuse; only abuse if coerced by male; female abuse harmless’/gentle/loving/misguided ‘motherly’ love; females only abuse boys; if female and abused by female you will be lesbian – if male, gay/misogynist; women only sexually abuse adolescents (Longdon 1993). gender & child welfare conference 2009

  4. history of victimisation • severely disturbed (Allen 1991) • ‘mad’ (Faller 1987; 1995) • ‘…helps to perpetuate a societal myth that any mother who sexually abuses her child must be crazy…’ (Peter 2006, p.286) gender & child welfare conference 2009

  5. The research evidence • ‘highly heterogeneous group’ (Oliver 2007, p.21) • Some abuse adolescents (Ferguson and Meehan 2005); some abuse younger children (Faller 1987; Nathan and Ward 2001; Denov 2004; Peter 2008) some abuse boys, others girls, and some both sexes (Oliver 2007); some offend alone, some with one or more accomplices, who are not always male (Vandiver 2006). gender & child welfare conference 2009

  6. Female sexual abuse: under-reported and under-recognised? • ‘…secrecy, distress, anger, controversy and fear surround the issue of female sexual abuse’ (Elliott 1993, p.1) • ‘unknown and undefined’ (Sgroi and Sargent (1993, p. 15) • 5% girls; 20% boys (Finkelhor 1984) • UK/US/Canada - statistics • ‘traditional sexual scripts’ (Denov 2003, p.308) gender & child welfare conference 2009

  7. Female sexual abuse as ‘harmless’? • implications • sexual abuse by females more harmful (Denov 2004; Peter 2008) • betrayal/shattered trust gender & child welfare conference 2009

  8. Conclusion Professional responses: • ‘discomfort’ • minimisation Disclosure Societal acceptance of myths aids abusers – silences victims/promotes public denial (Mcalinden 2006) gender & child welfare conference 2009

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