Female Perpetrated Sexual Abuse of Children: The Best Kept Secret

Sex offenders are not always male. A growing body of research is revealing that a significant number of children are sexually abused by female caretakers, many of them biological mothers of their victims. Societal idealization of mothers and the identification of women as victims, rather than perpetrators, in public discourse about abuse and within legal and other systems, helps to maintain a blanket of silence in which victims seldom come forward to seek help.

The taboo of talking about female sexual abuse of children exists even among many mental health professionals. In a 1997 study by Bobbie Rosencrans¹ of 93 adult survivors of mother-daughter sexual abuse, only 3% had ever told a therapist, despite 81% of them being in therapy. They could talk about male abuse with their therapists, but not the abuse by their mothers. They felt too ashamed; and feared they would not be believed.

This workshop will focus primarily on mother-daughter sexual abuse, but will also include information and discussion on male victims, as well as other female perpetrators in care-taking roles with children.

¹The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by Mothers by Bobbie Rosencrans, MSW, Safer Society Press, 1997.