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Female Sex Crimes: Society's Last Taboo

Gender myths, unreported cases allow problem to persist unchecked

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 8, 2009 6:08 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A mother’s love is supposed to be sacred, which may explain why Britain is struggling to face up to child molestation at the hands of women, Charlotte Philby writes in the Independent. Stats are hard to come by, but one UK abuse organization says 11% of callers in 2004—more than 8,600 people—complained of abuse by a woman. "I dread to think of the true scale of the problem," says one psychologist.

Detection is difficult, because most incidents occur in the home, and some victims talk of being “brainwashed” into believing their abuse was really parental love. What's more, cases of female perpetrators are rarely noticed or believed as society focuses on male pedophiles. "If I'd had just the smallest impression that I'd be believed," says one alleged victim, "I might have had the guts to come forward."

  (Shutterstock)
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The worst thing about it is that even though my mother is now dead—and never even met her granddaughter—she has managed to ruin my daughter's childhood too. - Sharon Hall, sexual abuse victim

When I tried to tell my therapist of my abuse when I was 35, I was told: 'You are having fantasies about your mother and you need more therapy to deal with that.'
- Sexual abuse victim

The involvement of women in cases of child molestation is an enduring taboo, and in order to break that wall of silence we must start by addressing a series of serious shortfalls. - Charlotte Philby, the Independent

You can't imagine how deflating it is after all those years of keeping your disgusting secret to finally get the courage to tell someone and then be told that you're making it up. - Sharon Hall, sexual abuse victim

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
thejoint00
Oct 8, 2009 3:15 AM CDT
the real question for me is how do you get help? if you notice a women that is showing signs of neurotic tendencies. the counelers that I've seen blow it off as though it's part of the normal female pshyce.
Fiskebolle
Aug 9, 2009 12:50 PM CDT
Pardon me but this post doesn't make sense? Why did she cut the marks off the shirts, and what does it have to do with the article?
cochiserocks
Aug 9, 2009 9:49 AM CDT
I remember my mum losing it being a pretty everyday occurrence and largely a reflection of her emotional state. My dad only ever lost it when we messed up massively. Perhaps that's something the article doesn't include which it should. That it is easier to spot father who deviates from 'disciplining' their children to 'abusing' them - because their traditional role requires control and would not be a regular occurrence. It might be harder to spot an abusive mother because, at least in my experience, the line between a cathartic explosion of frustration and abuse may be harder to judge.Just a thought...

 
United Kingdom • women • child molestation • sexual abuse • taboo • pedophilia

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