NCJ Number
149748
Editor(s)
M Elliott
Date Published
1993
Length
256 pages
Annotation
Experts in the analysis and treatment of child sexual abuse discuss the nature, effects, and treatment of victims and offenders involved in female sexual abuse of children.
Abstract
Part 1 contains nine papers that pertain to the knowledge and techniques professionals need to counter child sexual abuse committed by females. Among the issues discussed are why society and professionals have taken so long to acknowledge and address child sexual abuse by females, the distinctive effect of such abuse on its victims (both as children and adults), a feminist view of women sexual abusers, and working with the female sexual abusers and their victims. One of the points emphasized is that the reasons for the reluctance of society and professionals to acknowledge female child sexual abuse are also the reasons why sexual abuse by females is particularly devastating to their victims. Society has so stereotyped women as empathetic caregivers and victims of abusive men, that society is reluctant to accept that there are women who sexually abuse children. Their victims are thus devastated by the experience that one epitomized as a caregiver has abused them and by society's reluctance to take seriously their victimization. Part 2 contains three papers that profile women's and men's survivors' stories of abuse by females (most often their mothers) and the effects this abuse has had upon them, along with self-help techniques for sexual abuse survivors. Part 3 presents three types of resources for dealing with the issue of child sexual abuse by females: a review of the literature, books, and national help organizations. Subject index