Women who sexually abuse

[msanonymouse]

I raised this issue within another thread and was urged to start my own thread rather than derail the discussion. So I have.

I referred to a conference, some years ago, focusing on the perpetration of child sex abuse by women. A number of women calling themselves feminists turned up at the event. The conference organiser reports that:

"They stood up and started yelling about how terrible it was that I was detracting from the fact that male power was to blame."

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/taboo-tolerance/female-sexual-abuse-the-untold-story-of-societys-last-taboo-1767688.html

I referred to this incident to illustrate a point I was struggling to make: that a binary model of gender oppression is valid and necessary, but if applied to all the permutations of abusive pathology that arise within a complex social reality it can prove problematic.

Surprisingly, one poster said the women were right to speak up. As any attempt to increase awareness of CSA and speak up for its victims is a self-evidently good thing, this seemed a problematic attitude to take.

Please understand: I in no way mean to suggest this attitude is characteristic of feminists. Neither am I attempting to detract from or downplay the fact that the overwhelming majority of CSA (and sexual violence of all kinds) is perpetrated by males.

However, the sexual victimisation of children by women is taboo. And it strikes me that some feminists are so uncomfortable with the fact that women are capable of sexual violation as well as men that they unwittingly perpetuate this taboo. This attitude perpetuates myths and stereotypes that are enormously damaging to victims who often suffer in silence for their entire lives because they have internalised these patriarchal tropes.

I would be interested to read any thoughts anyone has on this issue from a feminist perspective.

In terms of protecting children, we have to recognise that anyone could be a risk regardless of gender/sex. However, from a risk assessment point of view, men offer a higher risk statistically speaking.

Often female perpetrators are connected with (acting on the instruction of) men rather than acting alone. Another reason to ensure women have the opportunity to establish lives independent of men.

There seems to be a category of abuser who fixates (emotionally?) on a teen aged boy say ten or so years younger and believes them self to be in a consensual relationship. Different again.

So, it's difficult for any victim of abuse to disclose it and risk being disbelieved? Or at least you think there's a perception that this is the case.

What do you think society needs to do to address this, and what role do you think feminism has to play in this?

As long as feminists accept that women can be paedophiles there isn't a problem.

That there exist women who molest children not at the behest of a man but because they're paedophiles. Because they get off on molesting children.

That is accepted.

So, are we done?

As long as feminists accept that women can be paedophiles there isn't a problem.

Fucking hell. What about the hurdles? The victims? The other emotive hyperbole? Does that all get sorted if all people who identify as feminists think this certain thing?!

Of course not. I was responding to a poster who was asking what feminism had to do with it. I'm not blaming feminists for this. If anything blame lies squarely with patriarchal myths that suggest women are innately submissive and nurturing and men innately sexually aggressive.

There was this case. As someone put it: he was failed by his babysitter, failed by his father and failed by the state

I found the comments quite eye opening at the time as there were a number of anecdotal stories that implied it was much more common than people think.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/05/babysitter-who-had-sex-with-11-year-old-boy-gets-suspended-sentence