Female Sex Offenders

  In one study done by Kaufman et al. (1995, p. 30³), 88% of female sex offenders were teachers and 23% were baby-sitters.

  In the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, 7% of sexual abuse investigations involved mothers as the alleged perpetrators--5% biological mothers and 2% stepmothers (Trocme et al. 2001, p. 49⁴).

  When the victim is male, female offenders account for 1% - 24% of the abusers; when the victim is female, female sex offenders account for 6% - 17% of the abusers (Kaufman et al., p. 323⁵).

  In an American Justice Department study of 60,991 victims of sexual assaults, female sex offenders were most common in assaults against victims under age 6 years of age. For these very young victims, 12% of offenders were females; for victims aged 6-12 years, 6% of the offenders were female; and for victims ages 12-17, 3% were female sex offenders (Snyder, 2000, p. 8⁶).

  Female sex offender research shows that women co-abused alongside a male partner in 50% - 77% of female offender cases (Rudin, Zalewski & Bodmer-Turner, 1995, p. 964⁷). The Karla Homolka case is a prime example.

  Research shows that there is no difference in the severity of abuse by female sex offenders as compared to male sex offenders (Rudin et al., 1995, p. 969⁸).

Categories of Female Sex Offenders:

  Predisposed Intergenerational: The most common type, a lone female perpetrator with a history of incest with more than one person.

  Male-Coerced: The next most common, with abuse being initiated by male partner.

  Experimental/Exploiter: A lone teen perpetrator who targets young male children within a baby-sitting context.

  Teacher/Lover: A lone perpetrator who falls in love with an adolescent male.

One example of the Teacher/Lover category of female sex offenders is the Mary-Kay Latourneau case in America. She not only had a sexual relationship with her underage male student, a baby resulted from the relationship.

Historically, cases of the Teacher/Lover category have been between young female students and male perpetrators.

FACT: Despite the double standard regarding teacher-student sexual liaisons--which tends to see girls as victims and boys as fortunate--many boys will be damaged by such relationships; the younger they are, the more damage they are likely to experience (Frank, 2000¹⁰).

Clearly, the sexual abuse of children and youth must continue to be unacceptable whether the perpetrator is male or female.

Sex offender pages on this site:

Sex Offenders	Adolescent Offenders	Female Offenders
Male Offenders	Incestuous Offenders	Internet Offenders
Child Offenders

Sexual Abuse pages on this site:

Sexual Abuse	Sexual Abuse Victims
Sexual Abuse Definition	Male Victims
Sexual Abuse Signs	Female Victims
Sexual Abuse Effects	Victims with Disability
Sexual Abuse Statistics	Sexual Abuse Disclosures

Child abuse information pages on this site:

Abuse Headlines	History of Abuse
Sexual Abuse Signs	Child Abuse Stats
Sexual Abuse Effects	Emotional Abuse
Sexual Abuse Stats	Emotional Abuse Types
Sexual Abuse Victims	Emotional Abuse Signs
Male Victims	Emotional Abuse Effects
Female Victims	Bullying
Victims w/ Disability	Emotional Abuse Stats
Sexual Abuse Disclosures	Physical Abuse
Sex Offenders	Physical Abuse Signs
Male Sex Offenders	Abuse & Discipline
Female Sex Offenders	Physical Abuse Effects
Child Sex Offenders	Physical Abuse Stats
Adolescent Sex Offenders	Child Neglect
Incestuous Sex Offenders	Child Neglect Signs
Internet Sex Offenders	Child Neglect Effects
Child Abuse Law	Child Neglect Stats
Age of Majority	Poverty & Neglect
Duty to Report	Sexual Abuse
Abuse Intervention	Sexual Abuse Defined
Abuse Prevention

References

Female Sex Offenders

1 Matthews, F. (1996). The invisible boy: Revisioning the victimization of male children and teens. Ottawa: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence.

2 Rudin, M., Zalewski, C., & Bodmer-Turner, J. (1995). Characteristics of child sexual abuse victims according to perpetrator gender. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19(8), 963-973.

3 Kaufman, K., Wallace, A., Johnson, C., & Reeder, M. (1995). Comparing female and male perpetrator's modus operandi: Victims' reports of sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(3), 322-333.

4 Trocme, N., & MacLauren, B. et al. (2001). Canadian incidence study of reported child abuse and neglect: Final report. Ottawa: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada.

5 Kaufman, K., Wallace, A., Johnson, C., & Reeder, M. (1995). Comparing female and male perpetrator's modus operandi: Victims' reports of sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(3), 322-333.

6 Snyder, H. (2000, July), Sexual assault of young children as reported to law enforcement: Victim, incident, and offender characteristics. Retrived December, 2002, American Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ 312-314.

7, 8 & 9 Rudin, M., Zalewski, C., & Bodmer-Turner, J. (1995). Characteristics of child sexual abuse victims according to perpetrator gender. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19(8), 963-973.

10 Frank, S. (2000, May 22). Caging birds of prey. TIME Online Edition, Retrieved December, 2002 from http://www.time.com

This female sex offenders page was last revised January 5, 2008