No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Sexual Victimization Perpetrated by Women: Federal Data Reveal Surprising Prevalence
... Keywords female sexual offending, male sexual offending, gender disparity, sentencing, judges' perceptions Current reported prevalence rates indicate that females commit approximately 4%-5% of all sexual offences worldwide (Colson et al., 2013;Cortoni et al., 2017). Although the rate for female sexual offending is appreciably below the rate for their male counterparts (95%-96%), it still corresponds to a significant number of cases (Cortoni & Gannon, 2013; see also Stemple et al., 2017). Over the last decade, researchers have compared the characteristics of female sexual offenders (FSOs) and male sexual offenders (MSOs) (Oliver, 2007;Tsopelas et al., 2011). ...
... For example, victims of FSOs have sometimes argued that they are fearful of not being believed by healthcare and criminal justice professionals if they reveal that the perpetrator is a female (Hetherton, 1999). Victims also report that professionals minimise the harm that victims have suffered if the perpetrator is a female (Hetherton, 1999;Stemple et al., 2017;Vandiver & Walker, 2002). These concerns may contribute to non-disclosure of sexual abuse perpetrated by a FSO, and consequently, the victim not having his or her treatment needs to be met (Sgroi & Sargent, 1993;Stemple et al., 2017). ...
... Victims also report that professionals minimise the harm that victims have suffered if the perpetrator is a female (Hetherton, 1999;Stemple et al., 2017;Vandiver & Walker, 2002). These concerns may contribute to non-disclosure of sexual abuse perpetrated by a FSO, and consequently, the victim not having his or her treatment needs to be met (Sgroi & Sargent, 1993;Stemple et al., 2017). ...
There is growing recognition that females engage in harmful sexual behaviour that is similar in severity and type to males. Existing research, however, suggests that there is a bias towards leniency in judicial systems for female sexual offenders (FSOs) in comparison to male sexual offenders (MSOs). Specifically, FSOs receive shorter sentences than do MSOs and are less likely to be sentenced to prison. The majority of research examining disparity in sentence outcomes for FSOs have been analysed through a quantitative lens. Qualitative methodology is also needed to understand any subjective differences in the way that judges perceive case-relevant factors and whether these perceptions differ as a function of the offender’s gender. The present study is a qualitative study that examined judges’ perceptions and descriptions of FSO compared to MSO in 10 matched cases of sexual offending. The study found that although there were many similarities in how judges perceived FSO compared to MSO, there were also unique differences that could explain more lenient sentences for FSOs (i.e. the vulnerability, poor mental health and adverse backgrounds of FSOs). Other unique differences found were that judges’ perception of FSOs behaviour was described as depraved and cruel, whereas MSOs similar behaviour was not described in such an emotive way. The present study provides additional insight into the reasons for a bias towards leniency for FSOs. In particular, it points towards judicial focus on particular personal circumstances that are seen as relevant in sentencing FSOs but not for MSOs.
... It is now recognized, however, that the perpetrator-victim relationship may consist of any possible gender combination and may involve acts not involving penetration. As such, most legal jurisdictions now have gender-neutral rape laws that also involve forcible oral sex (Stemple et al., 2017). In this article, we will use the term sexual assault or sexual victimization to refer to nonconsensual sexual contact or behavior (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 2020) including, but not limited to, rape. ...
... Although the bulk of research on rape and sexual assault in the United States continues to focus on female victims and male assailants, in the past decade it has become increasingly clear that a significant number of men are victimized by women (Stemple et al., 2017). Estimates suggest that up to 45% of sexual assault and harassment of men may be perpetrated by women (Hines et al., 2012;Stemple et al., 2017;Weiss, 2010). ...
... Although the bulk of research on rape and sexual assault in the United States continues to focus on female victims and male assailants, in the past decade it has become increasingly clear that a significant number of men are victimized by women (Stemple et al., 2017). Estimates suggest that up to 45% of sexual assault and harassment of men may be perpetrated by women (Hines et al., 2012;Stemple et al., 2017;Weiss, 2010). This high number exists despite the fact that men are even less likely than women to report sexual assaults because of embarrassment, fear of stigmatization, and anticipation that the negative impact of the experience will not be taken seriously (Donne et al., 2018;Hlavka, 2017;Reitz-Krueger et al., 2017). ...
Sexual assault of men by women has received increasing attention in recent years, as has research on rape myths about male victims. This study is a cross-generational replication of a 1984 study of college students’ judgments about male and female victims in a scenario involving a sexual assault carried out by male or female assailants. The 1984 data ( n = 172) were compared with those of a 2019 cohort ( n = 372) in a 2 (participant gender) x 2 (assailant gender) x 2 (victim gender) x 2 (cohort) factorial design to assess potential generational changes in perceptions of victims. Judgments by male participants of male victims of assaults carried out by women changed notably over time. The 2019 male cohort was less likely to judge that the victim initiated or encouraged the incident (40% in 1984 compared with 15% in 2019) and derived pleasure from it (47.4% in 1984 compared with 5.8% in 2019). In contrast, the 2019 female cohort was more likely to attribute victim encouragement (26.9% compared with 4.3% in 1984) and pleasure to the male victim (25% in 2019 compared with 5% in 1984). A similar gender pattern occurred in judgments of how stressful the event was for the male victim. Analysis of the 2019 data revealed that overall, despite scientific and cultural shifts that have occurred over the past three decades, participants continued to judge the male victim of assault by a female to have been more encouraging and to have experienced more pleasure and less stress than in any other assailant/victim gender combination. Results are discussed in relation to gendered stereotypical beliefs and male rape myths, as well as possible sensitization to power differentials inspired by the #MeToo movement. We emphasize the need for greater awareness and empirical attention to abuse that runs counter to preconceived notions about sexual victimization.
... The debate about gender symmetry in domestic violence centers around two important factors: the aforementioned problem of homogenizing men's experiences, and the conflation of victimization rates with the severity of men's victimization. Large sample quantitative studies that perforce homogenize men's experiences can make it appear as though their rates of victimization are similar to women, but claims of symmetry in GBV are highly disputed as the large data sets used to demonstrate symmetry often lack the complexity of measurement or depth of context required to compare men's experiences to women's effectively (Anderson, 2005;Felson & Cares, 2005;Gavey, 2019;Harris, 2012;Michalski, 2005;Morris & Ratajczak, 2019;Stemple, Flores, Ilan, & Meyer, 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014). That said, recent research with small samples has demonstrated that violence inflicted on men by female partners is often quite severe (Allen-Collinson, 2011; Archer, 2002;Dixon et al., 2020;Migliaccio, 2001), and that the longstanding argument that women only or usually commit violence in self-defense may not be empirically supported (Felson & Cares, 2005;Sarantakos, 2004). ...
... Large-scale population studies have also been used to argue for similarities in sexual victimization -a finding repeatedly presented as shocking or new (Gavey, 2019). For instance, using national victimization data that included broader measures of nonconsensual sex, Stemple et al. have argued that men's sexual victimization rates are similar to women (Stemple et al., 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014), but these data sets may lack external validity. ...
... Unfortunately, operationalizing previous data to fit new questions can leave gaps in understanding, and the data collection process provides insight and context. Not recognizing and fully reporting the limitations of secondary data can lead to distracting disputes around core understandings of GBV, as evidenced by the lingering debates regarding repeat offense of rape on college campus (Lisak & Miller, 2002;Swartout et al., 2015) and gender symmetry in GBV (Felson & Cares, 2005;Gavey, 2019;Stemple et al., 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014). The seriousness and scope of GBV, and the considerable resources needed to address it, are deserving of primary data collection that is methodologically specific to the proposed questions. ...
Men's relationships to gender‐based violence (GBV) have long been an area of sociological inquiry, but until recently men have primarily been framed as perpetrators of violence against women. More recently, research on men and GBV has broadened to include studying men as victims/survivors, as investigators and law enforcement officers, as passive or active bystanders, and as allies in working to address this social problem. We review this research in an effort to bridge these divergent bodies of work; we identify methodological trends and gaps in existing research, make recommendations for improved theoretical and methodological robustness, and suggest that research perspectives on men and GBV have shifted over time as wider understandings of gender and masculinities become more hopeful and more inclusive. While we see optimism and promise in new directions of GBV research, we urge ongoing research to retain the wisdoms and critical perspectives that marked the beginnings of GBV inquiry.
... For example, McLeod & Craft (2015) reported that 20% of sexual offences involved females and between 15 to 20% of all sexual offenses were perpetrated by females, yet only 1% of sex offenders who were in prison at the time of the study were females. Moreover, a study by Stemple, Flores, & Meyer (2017) examined female sexual crimes in the US by analyzing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) from 2008 through 2013. These data revealed that a female perpetrator forced the sexual act in 79.2% of the cases. ...
... To a majority of society, the idea that women would engage in sexual offending defies belief and suggests something more sinister, or even taboo since it challenges conventional perceptions and stereotypes about the role and socialization of women as caring, nurturing, and protecting children (Zack, Long, & Dirk, 2018). Despite this, the idea that women can be just as culpable in sexually predatory behavior as men is an idea that is gaining momentum as scholars report that FSOs are more common than previously thought (Stemple et al., 2017;Cortoni, Babchishin, & Rat, 2017;Jarrett, 2017). This finding is not only evident in the U.S., but it is also being discovered in cross cultural studies in countries such as: England, Germany, Canada, and Australia (Tozdan, Briken, & Dekker, 2019). ...
... Despite this, studies and official reports suggest that FSO is on the rise. Therefore, further research should be conducted on this special offending population (McLeod & Craft, 2015;Stemple et al., 2017). Based upon our findings, we recommend that efforts be made to produce gender parity in understanding the etiology, punishment, treatment, and public health issues related to FSO. ...
The idea that females can engage in sexually predatory behavior against children and adolescence is difficult to convey to the lay pubic since most of society believes the notion defies conventional ways of viewing the gendered nature and roles that women traditionally perform. Despite this, scholars and researchers examining child sexual abuse are beginning to report on silent offenders (women and young females) and their victimizations that have been largely ignored by criminal justice personnel who are responsible for holding sex offenders accountable. We argue that female sex offending is more common than believed and is both a criminal justice and a public health issue. We also argue that until society recognizes that sex offending is not a gendered crime, more cases will escape the attention of both criminal justice and public health systems that are in positions to punish and treat where appropriate.
... Men and women experience similar rates of unwanted or violent sexual contact (Black et al., 2011;Stemple & Meyer, 2014); however, the sexual victimization of men is often overlooked (Stemple & Meyer, 2014). This common oversight may be due to issues such as gender stereotyping (e.g., the misconception that only men, but not women, are physically capable of committing sexual assault) and underreporting of male victimization (Stemple et al., 2017). Contrary to this societal misconception, both men and women are capable of engaging in sexual perpetration (Stemple et al., 2017). ...
... This common oversight may be due to issues such as gender stereotyping (e.g., the misconception that only men, but not women, are physically capable of committing sexual assault) and underreporting of male victimization (Stemple et al., 2017). Contrary to this societal misconception, both men and women are capable of engaging in sexual perpetration (Stemple et al., 2017). Further, men and women seem to display similar levels of aggressive sexual behaviors when a broader array of sexually coercive behaviors are considered, such as verbal manipulation (Schatzel-Murphy et al., 2009) and threats of violence (Hogben & Waterman, 2000). ...
... It is important to note that the researchers' goal in developing this theory was to better understand male perpetration of sexual coercion toward female victims (Baumeister et al., 2002). However, given the aforementioned research demonstrating that both men and women are capable of committing sexual coercion (Stemple et al., 2017), and that narcissistic men and women in particular both turn to sexual coercion in the context of sexual rejection (Blinkhorn et al., 2015), we investigated the narcissistic reactance theory among both men and women. ...
Narcissism has been linked with aggressive sexual behavior, but no extant research has specifically examined the agentic and antagonistic features of grandiose narcissism (i.e., narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry, respectively) in relation to a wider array of aggressive sexual behaviors among both men and women. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry, sex, and different types of aggressive sexual behavior (i.e., coercion and seduction). College students (N = 1342) completed an online survey. Narcissistic rivalry was associated with higher levels of both coercion and seduction, while narcissistic admiration was only associated with higher levels of seduction. Sex moderated the relationship between narcissistic rivalry and aggressive sexual behavior such that women with higher levels of narcissistic rivalry were more likely to have engaged in aggressive sexual behavior. These findings indicate that narcissistic rivalry may be a significant risk factor for severe aggressive sexual behavior.
... Concerning perpetration type, results showed that coercion was used equivalently by women to force a man into fondling, penetration or oral sex. Concerning women convicted of sexual offences, a study analysed data from surveys conducted in the USA between 2008 and 2013 and revealed that female perpetrators were reported in 28% of incidents of rape and sexual assault involving male victims (Stemple et al., 2016). It is important to note that Stemple et al. (2016) included "made to penetrate/force to penetrate" offences in their definition of rape. ...
... Concerning women convicted of sexual offences, a study analysed data from surveys conducted in the USA between 2008 and 2013 and revealed that female perpetrators were reported in 28% of incidents of rape and sexual assault involving male victims (Stemple et al., 2016). It is important to note that Stemple et al. (2016) included "made to penetrate/force to penetrate" offences in their definition of rape. Substantial debate exists about how to incorporate these forms of violence under the generic term of rape (Widanaralalage et al., 2022). ...
Purpose-The perpetration of sexual coercion is a complex public health problem associated with many kinds of deficits. The literature has shown that women also perpetrate sexually coercive behaviours. Recent work has suggested that this kind of behaviour could be explained by two distinct developmental pathways. However, this model does not allow the authors to identify how the individual processes social information in situ and may decide to resort to coercive behaviours. This study aimed to investigate the role of social information processing in women's sexual coercion.
Design/methodology/approach-A sample of 125 French-speaking women from the general population were recruited to complete online questionnaires pertaining to dark triad personality traits, emotion abilities, alexithymia and antecedents of sexual coercion.
Findings-Results revealed that women with a history of sexual coercion had a significantly higher narcissistic traits score and more emotion regulation (ER) deficits than those without a history. For women with a history of sexual coercion perpetration, correlational analyses showed positive correlations, respectively, between psychopathic traits and alexithymia and between Machiavellianism and deficits in ER.
Originality/value-These results contribute to identifying the deficits relating to SIP in terms of sexual coercion perpetrated by women. Women with a history of sexual coercion perpetration appear to endorse more dark triad traits and to have ER issues. Certain level of these deficits could be a trigger and affect the SIP of women and increase the likelihood behaving in a sexually coercive manner.
... Burke's activism parts with academic feminism's account of sexual violence and perpetration in many ways. The dominant feminist account of sexual violence requires an understanding of males as perpetrators of sexual violence against female victims of sexual violence (Stemple, Flores, & Meyer, 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014;Cohen, 2014). In feminist analysis, rape and sexual violence occur as an outgrowth of ingrained sociocultural differences between the sexes (Brownmiller, 1975). ...
... According to Stemple and Meyer (2014), men and women in the United States report similar rates of nonconsensual sex in a 12-month period. Subsequent research by Stemple et al. (2017) also found surprising rates of female perpetration of sexual violence and rape against men. These findings, however, have not been widely publicized or accepted as fact because they disrupt many of the ideas we have about women in the West. ...
... Male victims of DA have historically been an under-served population and have received relatively little focus in research on intimate partner violence (Drijber et al. 2013;Laskey et al. 2019;Lysova et al. 2020b). Increasingly, researchers are directing their attention to the needs of male victims, especially in light of continued research that challenges the stereotypical view of domestic violence that casts men as perpetrators and women as victims (Neal and Edwards 2016;Ramsey 2015;Stemple et al. 2017;Straus 2011). It is important to state that this new focus is in no way intended to minimize the experiences of female victims, but rather to develop a more rounded and complex view of the subject that accounts for a diversity of experiences. ...
... (Bohall et al. 2016;Donovan and Barnes 2019;Ramsey 2015). However, due to the common stereotype of DA perpetrators being male and reluctance to accept the seriousness of female violence, male victims of male perpetrators may in some ways be treated with more legitimacy as 'victims' than male victims of female perpetrators (Douglass et al. 2020;Ramsey 2015;Stemple et al. 2017). In cultures that are intolerant of homosexuality, however, GBT male victims of DA may find it especially difficult, if not impossible, to seek help for fear of additional negative social ramifications (Thobejane and Luthada 2019). ...
Male victims of domestic abuse (DA) face a number of barriers to seeking help from their abusive relationships. Though available research has focussed primarily on exploring many of these challenges, few suggestions have been made on how to reduce or resolve them. It is necessary to establish a comprehensive plan to affect change at multiple levels in society in order to improve outcomes for this under-served population. This paper begins with a literature review examining in detail the many reasons why male victims of DA may refuse to seek help in an abusive relationship. Using the main key words, male victims combined with several common phrases related to the phenomenon of abuse including domestic abuse, domestic violence, and intimate partner violence, the review revealed several common reasons that male victims of DA refuse to seek help. These reasons include refusal or reluctance to view their experiences as abuse, hesitancy to identify with victimizing language, lack of available supportive services, embarrassment, shame, loss of masculinity, fear of being judged or disbelieved by others, fear of police response, and devotion to their family. Based on this review, a list of suggestions by the author is provided for changes that can be made to counter these barriers and improve male help-seeking. These suggestions are comprised of four broad themes: increasing public awareness, addressing the unique needs of male victims of DA, improving training for service providers, and increasing funding for services targeted to male victims of DA. A section exploring some of the unique concerns of gay, bisexual, and transgender men is included. International trends in the development and provision of services for male victims show that while increasing attention is being given to this vulnerable population, there are still significant gaps in available supports.
... Although men are perpetrators of the majority of rape incidents, for men, women, and children, the findings revealed an incident in which three women were identified as the perpetrators who raped an elderly man in his house. Previous research from the United States has identified that although not much is reported, a fair proportion of rape assaults, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual contact is perpetrated by women against men (Stemple, Flores, & Meyer, 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014). Similar to the findings of this study, some studies have reported that female-perpetrated sexual victimization covers a wide spectrum of sexual abuse, such as forced anal, vaginal, and oral penetration with a finger or object, which can cause severe damage to the victim (Johansson-Love & Fremouw, 2006;Pflugradt & Allen, 2012;Stemple et al., 2017). ...
... Previous research from the United States has identified that although not much is reported, a fair proportion of rape assaults, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual contact is perpetrated by women against men (Stemple, Flores, & Meyer, 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014). Similar to the findings of this study, some studies have reported that female-perpetrated sexual victimization covers a wide spectrum of sexual abuse, such as forced anal, vaginal, and oral penetration with a finger or object, which can cause severe damage to the victim (Johansson-Love & Fremouw, 2006;Pflugradt & Allen, 2012;Stemple et al., 2017). The findings of this study revealed that broomsticks and fingers were used for anal penetration of the victim, with an additional threat of infecting a victim with a disease suffered by a perpetrator. ...
Globally, rape is regarded as the most demoralizing type of trauma, and it has negative implications for victims and their families. Although rape affects the community in general, there is a paucity of literature on rape victimization of men. As a result, the types of rape experienced by them are not understood, and thus it is often difficult to develop contextually relevant interventions to prevent male rape and to support male rape victims. The objective of this study was to first determine and then describe, the types of rape experienced by men. An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) qualitative approach was used to collect and analyze data from a purposive sample of 11 participants, using semistructured individual interviews. The findings of the study reveal six themes and related subthemes as six types and related subtypes of rape experienced by men as follows: acquaintance rape, including familial rape; stranger rape; gang rape, including corrective-gang rape, drug-facilitated gang rape, pack-hunting rape, women retributive rape (or women vengeance) for violence experienced from men; homophobic rape; prison rape, including transactional rape and gang initiation rape; and armed rape. The findings reveal the different contexts or settings where men are vulnerable to rape. This highlights the possibilities for the development of context-specific sexual violence prevention interventions for men, which include self-defense training and awareness campaigns specific to rape victimization of men. Furthermore, future studies are recommended to expose this pandemic. Activism is advocated to stop the silence around this public and social health issue.
... However, the report does not mention (a) engaging with boys and men about violence against other boys and men, nor does it mention (b) engaging girls and women about violence against boys and men. The reason 'a' and 'b' should be considered is that violence against boys and men from other boys and men, and violence against boys and men from adult women, are both known problems (Archer, 2000;Breiding et al., 2014;Costa et al., 2015;Fiebert, 2014;Stemple & Meyer, 2014;Stemple et al., 2017). Lack of recognition of 'a' and 'b' suggests an institutional-level bias that males are almost always the perpetrators of violence and females are almost always the victims, which would be consistent with the experimental findings that women are often viewed as victims (Reynolds et al., 2020). ...
... However, violence against men is also an issue. For example, assumptions that males rarely experience intimate partner violence (Archer, 2000;Fiebert, 2014; and sexual abuse/victimisation (Breiding et al., 2014;Stemple et al., 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014) are false. ...
Males fare worse than females on many health outcomes, but more attention, particularly at a national level, is given to women’s issues. This apparent paradox might be explained by gamma bias or a similar gender bias construct. Such potential biases require exploration. The purpose of the current paper is to present six streams of evidence that illustrate a bias against men’s issues within the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO). First, the UN’s sustainable development goal on ‘gender equality’ is exclusive to females. Second, the UN observes nine International Days for women’s issues/achievements and one day for men’s issues/achievements. Third, the UN operates 69 Twitter accounts dedicated to women’s issues, culminating in 328,251 tweets since 2008. The UN does not operate a Twitter account for men’s issues. Fourth, female words (e.g., ‘women’) appear more frequently than male words (e.g., ‘men’) in documents archived in the UN and WHO databases, indicating more attention to women’s issues. Fifth, in WHO reports where similar use of male and female words might be expected (e.g., gender and health reports), female words appear more frequently. Sixth, more female than male words appear in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, with articles on women’s health more frequently non-original research (e.g., editorials). Overall, because the UN and WHO are the causal agents directly responsible for the outcomes assessed, the findings reveal a bias against men’s issues within these organisations. The findings support the construct of gamma bias. Ways to reduce this bias are discussed.
... Although estimating the frequency of male victimization is difficult given the sparse literature on the topic, results from national survey data in the United States show a 12-month incidence rate of male sexual victimization almost identical to that of female victimization in offense categories such as nonconsensual penetration (Breiding, 2015;Stemple & Meyer, 2014). Using similar methodology, Stemple et al. (2017) found that the majority of men who reported sexual victimization were more likely to report a female perpetrator, particularly if the man was heterosexual. Male victims also suffer from long term psychological effects of abuse such as depression and symptoms of trauma (Walker et al., 2005). ...
... In addition, male victims of female perpetrators also challenge female gender norms. Stemple et al. (2017) suggest that female perpetration disrupts widespread perceptions of women as nonthreatening, as well as challenging collective beliefs around gender safety. ...
If heterosexual male victims had been more active in the #MeToo movement, how might they have been judged? Although the #MeToo movement has been regarded as an historic milestone for women who were victimized by men in positions of power, participation in the movement by male victims has been noticeably absent. Research indicates that victims may avoid disclosure if they anticipate negative social reactions, and male victims may attract greater levels of victim blaming than female victims, particularly if their perpetrator was female. The current study investigated attributions of victim blame against a fictional heterosexual male in a between-subjects vignette design. Perpetrator gender and their social influence were manipulated in a sample of 208 college students. Results did not support the hypothesized main effects of perpetrator gender or social influence. Greater blame attributions were made against victims of a male perpetrator compared to one of an unspecified gender. Male participants attributed greater blame than females, and the relationship between shame proneness and blame was moderated by participant gender, males experiencing higher levels of shame engaged in less victim blame. Blame increased when participants believed the court case to be more distressing than the victimizing act. Results support the male rape myth framework, which posits that beliefs about a male victim’s experience of his own violation, particularly whether he experienced distress or pleasure, are related to gendered norms of masculinity, which include normative traits of toughness, dominance, and high sexual performance. Implications on the role of gender as a barrier to disclosure by male victims are discussed.
... Recent scholarship that takes this change of definition into account showed that men were raped and/or made to Foreword xix penetrate at similar rates to women in a 12-month period in the United States (Stemple & Meyer, 2014). The most surprising finding, however, has been the high rates of female perpetration of sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and made-to-penetrate violence against men (Stemple et al., 2017;Smith et al., 2017, p. 32). Smith et al. (2017) found that, in the United States over a 12-month period, Black males reported higher rates (6.5%) of contact sexual violence than both Black women (5.8%) and white women (3.6%) (pp. ...
... La evidencia científica ha sugerido que el concepto utilizado para referirse a la violencia de pareja en adolescentes y jóvenes debería ser inclusivo y lo suficientemente relevante para contemplar las diferentes perspectivas que existen en la sociedad y cultura (O'Campo et al., 2015), ya que este fenómeno suele presentarse sin distinguir clase social, etnia, religión y edad (De Alencar-Rodrigues y Contreras, 2012). En ese orden de ideas, también se deberían tomar en cuenta los diversos estudios que han enfocado su atención en la figura de la mujer como principal víctima, para explicar dicha variabilidad conceptual (Dim y Elabor-Idemudia, 2018); pues existe información que demuestra su rol de perpetradora (Stemple et al., 2017). Esta cuestión se ha convertido en un tema de debate entre las y los especialistas en la materia debido a que se han cuestionado si resulta necesario realizar la distinción entre la violencia que es cometida por parte de los varones hacia las mujeres y viceversa (Hernández-Corona, 2022), sobre todo considerando que las mujeres son quienes suelen vivenciar mayores consecuencias negativas hacia su salud (Winstok, 2007). ...
La violencia de pareja en adolescentes y jóvenes es una
problemática de salud pública que ha sido estudiada
a través de distintos enfoques, contextos y diseños,
con el fin de establecer su prevalencia o elementos
de prevención. No obstante, aunque existe un vasto
corpus científico sobre la materia, aún persisten ciertas
lagunas que dificultan los procesos de investigación,
metodología y el establecimiento de programas
preventivos o de intervención. Por lo anterior, el
presente capítulo pretende abordar algunas de las
dificultades conceptuales y metodológicas asociadas
al estudio de este fenómeno social. Primeramente, se
establece que la posible causa de la confusión conceptual
en torno a la violencia de pareja en jóvenes se
debe a su planteamiento a partir de otros conceptos
asociados a la violencia, además porque se observa
como un fenómeno multicultural, lo que impide el
establecimiento de conductas características de este
tipo de violencia. En cuanto a los aspectos metodológicos,
se resalta que dentro del corpus científico
sobre este fenómeno predominan las investigaciones
realizadas desde un enfoque cuantitativo, un diseño no
experimental, con un alcance exploratorio y/o descriptivo,
y con un corte transversal. Por su parte, los
problemas que se presentan son las limitaciones tanto
en el enfoque cualitativo como cuantitativo y la desestimación
prejuiciosa de los mismos. En otro contexto,
se destaca que, a pesar de que los diseños experimentales
permiten establecer relaciones causales, no son
los más aptos para el estudio de la violencia, debido a
las implicaciones éticas que traerían consigo, lo cual
no permitiría realizar investigaciones con un alcance
explicativo. En lo que respecta al tipo de corte, aunque
el transversal permite integrar mediciones simultáneas,
no permite observar la evolución del problema,
caso contrario al corte longitudinal, pero aumenta el
riesgo de abandono debido a que es un periodo relativamente
largo. Por último, la muestra puede ser
desigual respecto a la cantidad de mujeres y hombres,
con una franja etaria extensa o encontrarse cautiva en
el ámbito escolar; no obstante, el mayor problema se
manifiesta en la no representatividad, pues hace imposible
la generalización de los hallazgos. Sin embargo, a
pesar de que las investigaciones en torno a violencia
de pareja en jóvenes presentan diversos problemas
u obstáculos, es importante destacar que toda información
que ha sido recolectada ha hecho posible un
mayor entendimiento del fenómeno y el diseño de
programas de intervención que responden a la problemática
social.
... La evidencia científica ha sugerido que el concepto utilizado para referirse a la violencia de pareja en adolescentes y jóvenes debería ser inclusivo y lo suficientemente relevante para contemplar las diferentes perspectivas que existen en la sociedad y cultura (O'Campo et al., 2015), ya que este fenómeno suele presentarse sin distinguir clase social, etnia, religión y edad (De Alencar-Rodrigues y Contreras, 2012). En ese orden de ideas, también se deberían tomar en cuenta los diversos estudios que han enfocado su atención en la figura de la mujer como principal víctima, para explicar dicha variabilidad conceptual (Dim y Elabor-Idemudia, 2018); pues existe información que demuestra su rol de perpetradora (Stemple et al., 2017). Esta cuestión se ha convertido en un tema de debate entre las y los especialistas en la materia debido a que se han cuestionado si resulta necesario realizar la distinción entre la violencia que es cometida por parte de los varones hacia las mujeres y viceversa , sobre todo considerando que las mujeres son quienes suelen vivenciar mayores consecuencias negativas hacia su salud (Winstok, 2007). ...
RESUMEN
El presente libro ha sido generado en el seno del Grupo de Investigación: “Análisis de Relaciones Interpersonales: Pareja, Familia y Organización” (Facultad de Psicología, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) y el Centro de Psicología Integral (Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) el cual aborda un fenómeno con gran prevalencia y numerosos estragos, la problemática social de la violencia que se ejerce hacia mujeres y hombres en las parejas de jóvenes. Es así como a lo largo de sus trece capítulos se presenta: 1) la contextualización de la adolescencia y adultez emergente, 2) la caracterización de la pareja, 3) las principales características de la violencia en las relaciones de pareja, 4) las principales teorías explicativas del fenómeno, 5) las diferentes tipologías de la violencia, 6) la ciber violencia de la pareja, 7) los principales factores de riesgo, 8) así como los principales factores de protección en la violencia de pareja, 9) el fenómeno de la violencia de pareja en la comunidad LGBT+, 10) la prevalencia de la violencia en las relaciones de noviazgo, 11) algunas dificultades conceptuales y metodológicas asociadas a su estudio, 12) la prevención de la violencia de pareja en estas edades y, finalmente, 13) algunas consideraciones científicas y prácticas en el abordaje de esta problemática. Alejado de apasionamientos ideológicos o intereses personales o de grupo, cada capítulo ha sido revisado (sistema peer review) por al menos cuatro especialistas contribuyendo así a elevar su rigurosidad académica,teórica, técnica y científica brindando así al lector interesado en la materia una obra confiable para su consulta; ojalá que cumpla con su cometido.
Palabras Clave: Violencia en el noviazgo, revisión sistemática, prevención, intervención, adolescente, joven, mexicano.
ABSTRACT
This book has been generated within the Research Group: «Analysis of Interpersonal Relationships: Couple, Family and Organization» (Department of Psychology, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) and the Integral Psychology Center (Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla) and addresses a phenomenon with great prevalence and numerous ravages, the social problem of violence against women and men in young couples. Thus, throughout its thirteen chapters it presents: 1) the contextualization of adolescence and emerging adulthood, 2) the characterization of the couple, 3) the main characteristics of violence in couple relationships, 4) the main explanatory theories of the phenomenon, 5) the different typologies of violence, 6) the cyber violence of the couple, 7) the main risk factors, 8) as well as the main protective factors in couple violence, 9) the phenomenon of intimate partner violence in the LGBT+ community, 10) the prevalence of violence in dating relationships, 11) some conceptual and methodological difficulties associated with its study, 12) the prevention of intimate partner violence in these ages and, finally, 13) some scientific and practical considerations in addressing this issue. Far from ideological passions or personal or group interests, each chapter has been reviewed (peer review system) by at least four specialists, thus contributing to increase its academic, theoretical, technical and scientific rigor, thus providing the reader interested in the subject with a reliable work for consultation; hopefully it will fulfill its purpose.
Key Words: Dating Violence, Systematic Review, Prevention, Intervention, Adolescent, Youth, Mexican
... La evidencia científica ha sugerido que el concepto utilizado para referirse a la violencia de pareja en adolescentes y jóvenes debería ser inclusivo y lo suficientemente relevante para contemplar las diferentes perspectivas que existen en la sociedad y cultura (O'Campo et al., 2015), ya que este fenómeno suele presentarse sin distinguir clase social, etnia, religión y edad (De Alencar-Rodrigues y Contreras, 2012). En ese orden de ideas, también se deberían tomar en cuenta los diversos estudios que han enfocado su atención en la figura de la mujer como principal víctima, para explicar dicha variabilidad conceptual (Dim y Elabor-Idemudia, 2018); pues existe información que demuestra su rol de perpetradora (Stemple et al., 2017). Esta cuestión se ha convertido en un tema de debate entre las y los especialistas en la materia debido a que se han cuestionado si resulta necesario realizar la distinción entre la violencia que es cometida por parte de los varones hacia las mujeres y viceversa , sobre todo considerando que las mujeres son quienes suelen vivenciar mayores consecuencias negativas hacia su salud (Winstok, 2007). ...
... Bártová et al., 2021;Joyal & Carpentier, 2017), which may translate into the different numbers of self-referred help-seeking men and women with paraphilic interests. Women are also markedly underrepresented among patients ordered by court to receive sex-offender treatment, which may be due to the systematic underreporting of female sexual offences, which in fact are more frequent than previously thought (Anderson et al., 2020;Cortoni et al., 2017;Stemple et al., 2017;Tozdan et al., 2019). Indeed, female sexual offending is a problem that still goes under-recognized (Brayford, 2012) and hence under-treated. ...
A body of literature shows that a considerable proportion of mental health and social work professionals who are approached by help-seeking people with paraphilic interests find themselves unprepared to respond to these individuals adequately. In the Czech Republic, the professionals’ self-perceptions about addressing various paraphilic-related themes and concerns remain largely unexplored. The objective of the present study was to fill this knowledge gap by conducting an anonymous online survey among mental health and social work practitioners expected to have professional experience with help-seeking people presenting with paraphilic interests and related themes. The focus of the study was on two broad areas of paraphilic interest: attraction to minors and sexual non-consent and violence against adults. The survey results in 61 practitioners suggested limited self-perceived capacity to address paraphilic-related interests and concerns, which involved navigating relationships with significant others, mitigating anxiety and depression, and enhancing intimate functioning, rather than handling paraphilic interests per se. Insufficient paraphilic-related professional experience and training were named among the major self-perceived obstacles to efficient help provision. Through identification of current gaps in professionals’ engagement with this stigmatized, hard-to-reach, at-risk population we hope to foster the development of competent, client-oriented, and compassionate counselling and treatment services in the Czech Republic. Lay Summary: We surveyed mental health and social work practitioners about their engagement with help-seeking individuals who approach them about concerns related to sexual interest in minors and non-consent or violence against adults. We found that the practitioners’ self-reported capacity for efficient help provision was limited and that the major self-perceived obstacles were insufficient professional experience and training.
... Rape is gendered in the risk of experiencing victimization and in risk of engaging in perpetration (Black et al., 2011;Stemple et al., 2017). While a gendered lens is important, entirely excluding the study of women who perpetrate is problematic. ...
Individual acknowledgment of sexual assault and rape perpetration is extraordinarily low in prior research. Only about 1% of individuals report perpetrating rape, in contrast to the 6% perpetrating rape as estimated by using behaviorally specific items that exclude stigmatized words such as rape. The goal of this study was to examine two possible measurement mechanisms for increasing perpetration acknowledgment: label choice and response format. In Sample 1 (N = 291), participants completed two acknowledgment items which varied in label choice. One item used the term rape; one used the term sexual assault. Acknowledgment of perpetration using the label sexual assault was significantly higher than when using the term rape (6.38%-1.71%, p = .01, Cohen's d = 0.44). In Sample 2 (N = 438), participants were presented with a scaled and a dichotomous sexual assault item at different parts of the overall survey. Sexual assault acknowledgment was higher on the scaled item compared to the dichotomous item (15.75% vs. 3.2%, p < .0001, Cohen's d = 0.64). Rates of sexual perpetration as measured behaviorally were higher for ambiguous acknowledgment types ("might or might not," "probably not") than for those reporting "definitely not," (76.81% vs. 29.0%, p < .0001, Cohen's d = 0.59). The two different measurement strategies tested here, using a less stigmatized label such as sexual assault and using a scaled response format, both increased rates of perpetration acknowledgment 3-15x greater than rates documented in prior research.
... Yet evidence from both research studies and large-scale federal agency incident data shows that a proportion of women also engage in each sexually coercive behaviour (e.g. Fernández-Fuertes et al., 2018;Krahé et al., 2003;Stemple & Meyer, 2014;Stemple et al., 2017;Struckman-Johnson et al., 2003;Tomaszewska & Krahé, 2018). There is some suggestion that men and women engage in specific types of coercionmanipulation, intoxication and force tacticsto a roughly similar degree (Schatzel-Murphy et al., 2009), and that there are common predictors of sexual coercion in both sexes (e.g. ...
... En cuanto a las características de los agre-sores, los hallazgos revelaron que los hombres son los autores en la mayoría de los incidentes de las agresiones sexuales. Sin embargo, no se puede decir que la agresión sexual sea exclusiva de los hombres solo porque las mujeres no tienen una presencia tan relevante como agresoras (Stemple et al., 2017). Las investigaciones sobre mujeres agresoras mencionan que cometen aproximadamente el 2 % de los delitos sexuales denunciados a la policía (Cortoni et al., 2017) y su participación, generalmente, es de coautor con una pareja masculina (Wijkman y da Silva, 2020). ...
... Men also are at risk of experiencing sexual assault; about two percent of men report being raped in their lifetime and 23% report other unwanted sexual experiences (Breiding et al., 2014); although no research currently exists that indicates college is a riskier time for young men to be sexually assaulted. Men, however, are also more likely to be perpetrators of sexual assault against women (Black et al., 2011;Stemple et al., 2017). Research suggests men who consume pornography, have stereotypical gendered attitudes, believe rape myths, and drink heavily are more at likely to perpetrate sexual assault (Abbey, & McAuslan, 2004;Carr & VanDeusen, 2004;Rostad et al., 2019;Shafer et al., 2018). ...
Research suggests one in five women will experience sexual assault during their college careers. However, college’s sexual assault prevention education (SAPE) programs vary widely in their length, content, and effectiveness. There is currently no validated scale to measure students’ sexual consent intentions as taught in SAPE. This dissertation sought to create a valid and reliable scale to measure sexual consent, called Adherence to Sexual Consent – Behavioral Intentions (ASC-BI). Additionally, many SAPE programs are atheoretical; therefore, this work examines if theory of planned behavior (TPB) provides decent explanation of ASC-BI.
Two samples were collected including a national sample of 500 undergraduate MTurk workers and a local sample 369 IU students. Participants completed the survey online via a Qualtrics survey. Results suggested a 5-factor solution for ASC-BI provided good fit; factors include seeking consent, giving consent, refusing unwanted sexual activity, accepting refusal, and sexual communication. Additionally, results suggested the TPB provides a good model for explaining ASC-BI. TPB cognitions, including attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control, fully mediated the relationship between SAPE messages and ASC-BI. Finally, positive attitudes towards consent were a better predictor of ASC-BI compared to rape myth acceptance. Results provide practioners and researchers with a valid tool for measuring sexual consent intentions. Additionally, results suggest practioners should include TPB cognitions as mediating variables when assessing effectiveness of SAPE and focus on positive attitude change instead of eliminating rape myths.
... Looking beyond conflict settings to sexual violence more broadly, recent studies have lent support to calls for attention to women's sexual violence against adult men. Survey research by Stemple et al. (Stemple, Flores, & Meyer, 2017;Stemple & Meyer, 2014) seems to support the idea that rates of sexual coercion by women against men are at similar levels to men's against women. Just as the violence prevention field is under pressure from antifeminist "men's rights" advocates and others to frame intimate partner violence as gender symmetrical, these studies are likely to prompt increasing pressure to frame sexual violence as gender symmetrical. ...
Text: https://xyonline.net/content/sexual-violence-prevention-men-and-boys-social-justice-issue
Sexual violence is an issue of social injustice, and engaging men and boys in its prevention and reduction is a social justice project. A feminist and social justice approach to sexual violence prevention, first, recognizes sexual violence as a social injustice: this violence causes harm, is fundamentally linked to power and inequality, and acts as a fundamental barrier to gender equality. A feminist and social justice approach, second, addresses the social inequalities at the root of this violence and, third, works for change through social action. How do contemporary efforts to engage men and boys measure up to this approach? Many show a feminist orientation to gender inequalities, in their curricula and frameworks and the shared agendas of advocates and organizations, and the emergence of the standard that interventions should be “gender-transformative” may intensify attention to the need to challenge systemic gender inequalities. At the same time, the presence of feminist orientations is uneven and few interventions are focused on structural-level factors. A feminist social justice approach also emphasizes “intersectional” attention to the interlocking oppressions that structure violence and gender. The “engaging men” field shows a widespread recognition of men’s diverse experiences of power and privilege, although this has neglected sexuality and class and often focused on disadvantage rather than its obverse, privilege. An intersectional approach also requires challenges to the homophobic and gendered violence and abuse that shape boys’ and men’s relations with each other, and careful attention to men’s and boys’ victimization at the hands of women and girls. A feminist social justice approach involves working for change through social action. On the one hand, men’s antiviolence advocacy has intensified in recent years, and there are desirable emphases on personal and organizational accountability. On the other, relatively few men are involved, most efforts are not directed at powerful men or institutional actors, and particularly in wealthier countries there has been little alliance with other social justice movements.
... Sanderson suggests that 'young boys being initiated into their first sexual experience is seen as innocuous and representative of all boy's fantasies' (Sanderson 2004, p.112). As a society, we must begin to understand and acknowledge that women are not domestic goddesses and recognize that an increasing number of women are being prosecuted for sexual abuse (Stemple, Flores Ilan and Mayer 2016). If we are to support these women in understanding the crimes they have committed, we must remove our own blindfolds and confront what can happen behind closed doors. ...
... Marquart et al. (2001) studied BVs in a sample of employees in a correctional institution and found that 75 per cent of cases involved female employees who might fall under Gabbard's category of "lovesick". Using self-reported data, Stemple et al. (2017) reported that of prisoners who had previous sexual contact with a staff member, 80 per cent had done so with a female. This is even more pronounced in adolescent institutions, where up to 90 per cent of those involved in SBVs had been victimised by a female staff member. ...
This article explores sexual boundary violations and their clinical implications in forensic settings. In particular, the authors consider whether female professional and male patient relationship transgressions have similar clinical meanings as the inverse, or whether there is an inherent or perceived difference between genders. Furthermore, attention is brought to the problematic aspects of reductive, dichotomous interpretations of victim–violator relationships. Composite cases of such clinical "accidents" are presented. These are set within secure environments in the United Kingdom. The scope of these cases encompasses incidents between clinician and patient, as well as inter-professional boundary violations. By discussing these vignettes, the authors demonstrate the risk of a subtle, gradual, and insidious erosion of boundaries, alongside more overt incidents of a sexual nature and abuse of power. Contemporary societal factors that may influence conscious and unconscious biases will also be considered in the post #MeToo world. Where clinical examples are given, they are composites of cases reported in the public domain known to the authors. They are clinically accurate but do not involve actual identifiable people and cases.
... In addition, the findings about a higher probability of having committed a sex crime against children amongst men as compared with the other two crime types should be considered more critically, as there was only a small comparable group of women involved in this study. It should be noted that the perpetration of sex crime against children by women is generally quite rare as compared with perpetration by men [82] and recent data suggest that child molesters who are men are more likely to be sentenced to prison, and given longer terms, than child molesters who are women [83,84]. ...
Background
DSM-5 provided a dimensional model of personality disorders which may be more clinically informative for the assessment and management of prisoners than a categorical one, as diagnoses of personality disorders alone cannot explain the type of violence. The role of DSM-5 personality facets is however understudied in child molesters, and no study compared these clinical features between individuals who have committed sex crime against children and those who have committed other types of crime. The present study compared DSM-5 personality trait facets between prisoners who had committed sex crime against children, prisoners who had committed property crime (i.e., robbery, fraud) and those who had committed crime against the person (i.e., homicide, assault or violence not implying a sexual element). A further aim was to explore which facets were associated with sex crime against children as compared with the other types of crime, controlling for socio-demographics (age, gender), psychiatric comorbidity (presence of any psychiatric diagnoses) and general psychopathy traits.
Methods
One hundred sixty-seven prisoners participated (91 had committed sex crime against children, 25 property crime, and 51 committed a crime against the person) and completed the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised.
Results
Prisoners who had committed sex crime against children reported higher Restricted Affectivity traits than those who had committed property crime and crime against the person and higher Irresponsibility traits than those who had committed property crime. The results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that on the one hand being a man, having a higher age, and the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity were more likely to be related to sex crime than property crime, on the other hand higher Irresponsibility personality traits, being a man, and the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity were more likely to be related to sex crime against children than crime against the person.
Conclusions
The Irresponsibility facet might be specific to child molesters and can differentiate this group from offenders who have committed other crime types. This facet might be considered a key target of a tailored assessment and treatment planning during clinical practice with child molesters.
... Although it is not uncommon for women to perpetrate sexual assault, men are more likely to be the perpetrators (Stemple, Flores, & Meyer, 2017). Therefore, the question of whether men understand that a lack of response is not a sign of consent is an important one. ...
Emerging adult college students (77 men, 82 women) in the U.S. evaluated consent and the acceptability of a sexual act in hypothetical scenarios which varied the response of the protagonist/victim, the length of the relationship and the gender of the protagonist. Judgments of the acceptability of sexual acts were strongly associated with judgments of consent. Judgments of consent and the acceptability, responsibility for and deserved-punishment for the sexual act differed depending on the victim’s responses and relationships lengths. Compared to women, men judged sex after the freezing response to be more acceptable, and the perpetrator to be less responsible and less punish-worthy. In addition, men were less likely than women to label responses where the victim froze as rape. No differences were found between participants in their first years of college compared to their last years of college.
... Even less evidence is available on female perpetrators of sexual aggression. Moreover, information about the rate of women among perpetrators of sexual aggression is often derived from reports of victims, who are asked about the gender of the perpetrator, rather than being based on perpetrator self-reports (see review by Stemple et al., 2017) or limited to the study of female sex offenders (see review by Fisher & Pina, 2013). The few studies that have collected self-reports of perpetration from women are based on small sample sizes (e.g., Bouffard & Goodson, 2017;Hughes et al., 2020). ...
This study examined the prevalence of sexual aggression perpetration and victimization in a sample of 1,172 students (755 female, 417 male) from four universities in Germany. All participants were asked about both victimization by, and perpetration of, sexual aggression since the age of 14 years, using the Sexual Aggression and Victimization Scale (SAV-S). Prevalence rates were established for different coercive strategies, sexual acts, and victim–perpetrator relationships. Both same-sex and opposite-sex victim–perpetrator constellations were examined. The overall victimization rate was 62.1% for women and 37.5% for men. The overall perpetration rate was 17.7% for men and 9.4% for women. Prevalence rates of both victimization and perpetration were higher for participants who had sexual contacts with both opposite-sex and same-sex partners than for participants with exclusively opposite-sex partners. Significant overlap was found between victim and perpetrator status for men and women as well as for participants with only opposite-sex and both opposite-sex and same-sex partners. A disparity between (higher) victimization and (lower) perpetration reports was found for both men and women, suggesting a general underreporting of perpetration rather than a gendered explanation in terms of social desirability or the perception of consent cues. The findings are placed in the international research literature on the prevalence of sexual aggression before and after the #metoo campaign, and their implications for prevention efforts are discussed.
... Narcissism has often been used to explain why men engage in sexually aggressive behaviors that are targeted toward female victims [11], but it is important to note that both men and women are capable of sexual aggression [24][25][26][27][28][29]. Further, narcissism has been shown to be associated with various aspects of sexual aggression for both men and women [23,[30][31][32]. ...
The present research examined the associations that narcissistic personality features had with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behaviors, as well as whether these associations were mediated by the power that was believed to accompany these behaviors. Participants were 221 community members (115 women, 106 men) who completed a self-report instrument that captured narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism). In addition, participants were asked to rate how powerful they would expect to feel if they actually engaged in an array of sexually aggressive behaviors (e.g., “Tying up a person during sexual intercourse against her/his will”) as well as how sexually aroused they would be by each behavior. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed that both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry were positively associated with subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression and that these associations were mediated by the perceived power that was believed to accompany these sexually aggressive behaviors. These results suggest that perceptions of power may play an important role in the connections that narcissistic personality features have with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behavior for both men and women. This discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the connections between narcissism and sexual aggression in both men and women.
... Philosophers are well accustomed to recognizing that women are victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, but rarely perceive males to be victims of these behaviours. In the US, sexual assault and rape/made to penetrate violence among men and women have been found to be practically equal (Stemple and Meyer 2014). Despite the changes to the Uniform Crime Reporting statutes in 2013, philosophers have refused to accept that the changes to the definition of rape have resulted in a reclassifying of incidences previously understood to be sexual assault as made to penetrate violence. ...
This article argues that non-ideal theory fails to deliver on its promise of providing a more accurate account of the real world by which philosophers can address problems of racism, sexual violence, and poverty. Because non-ideal theory relies on abstractions of groups which are idealized as causes for social phenomena, non-idealists imagine that categories like race or gender predict how groups behave in the real world. This article maintains that non-idealist abstractions often result in inaccuracy and makes the case that empirically informed theories and group-based analyses are needed to correct the course of race-gender theory.
... Yet evidence from both research studies and large-scale federal agency incident data shows that a proportion of women also engage in each sexually coercive behaviour (e.g. Fernández-Fuertes et al., 2018;Krahé et al., 2003;Stemple & Meyer, 2014;Stemple et al., 2017;Struckman-Johnson et al., 2003;Tomaszewska & Krahé, 2018). There is some suggestion that men and women engage in specific types of coercionmanipulation, intoxication and force tacticsto a roughly similar degree (Schatzel-Murphy et al., 2009), and that there are common predictors of sexual coercion in both sexes (e.g. ...
This study investigated sexual coercion (perpetration and victimisation) in women. Women (N = 151) aged 18–63 years (M = 23.34, SD = 8.80) completed standardised questionnaires measuring sexual coercion (nonverbal sexual arousal, emotional manipulation and deception, and exploitation of the intoxicated), personality disorder traits (Borderline and Histrionic), love styles (Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania, and Agape), and rejection sensitivity. Data analyses revealed that together, personality disorder traits, love styles, and rejection sensitivity predicted coercion perpetration involving emotional manipulation and deception. These variables also predicted victimisation involving nonverbal sexual arousal and emotional manipulation and deception. Of these predictors, borderline traits predicted coercion involving emotional manipulation and deception (as both a perpetrator and victim) and victimisation from nonverbal sexual arousal-based coercion. Furthermore, Ludus predicted victimisation involving emotional manipulation and deception, while rejection sensitivity predicted the use of emotional manipulation and deception to coerce a partner.
In the United States, college students have been identified as a high-risk group for sexual violence (SV) victimization and perpetration, with one in three women and one in four men experiencing SV in their lifetimes. Therefore, studies investigating both perpetration and victimization across genders are pertinent. Additionally, in the context of higher education, athletics is often viewed as a high-risk environment for SV. Despite established relationships between SV and intercollegiate athletics, research on this topic is not conclusive due to the heterogeneous nature of college sports, as well as a dearth of research on recreational athletes. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the differences in SV victimization and perpetration among intercollegiate, recreational, and non-athlete populations. Additional context was provided by exploring variables at multiple levels of the socio-ecological model for violence prevention, as these factors can be important aspects of a person's development and may inform behavior. Utilizing a sample of 62,996 students from 199 institutions of higher education in the United States, multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess individual- (i.e., personal demographics), relationship- (i.e., athlete status), and community-level (i.e., institutional characteristics) predictors of SV victimization and perpetration. The results indicated that recreational athletes are the most at-risk group, experiencing and perpetrating SV at higher rates than non-athletes. Results on institutional status and individual characteristics, as well as implications for practitioners and future research is discussed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a great deal on individuals and societies across the globe in several ways. Gender inequalities are typically worsened by crisis and the Corona virus context is no different, as women are hit harder by its effects. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with over 200 million people, has reported several cases of domestic violence affecting women, including killings and rapes within and in the post COVID-19 lockdown era. The attacks on women have sparked out widespread reactions online using social media platforms as well as street protests championed by women and civil society organizations. This scourge of rapes and other forms of domestic violence against women have further destabilized the lopsided gender balance in Nigeria with the female gender being the greatest victim. This review paper, anchored on 'attitude and gender schemas theory' by Huston Abbey (1991), thus examined the types, causes and or the relationship between COVID-19 lockdown era and domestic violence. It was noted that lockdown era which began on 23 rd March2020 brought victims (women and girls) and the perpetrators of domestic violence in close proximity over a prolonged period of time with severe consequences for the victims and society. The study also revealed that weak legal framework universally as well as lack of trained law enforcement officers promotes domestic violence against women in Nigeria. The study recommended counseling, use of family courts and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to mitigate this social problem of domestic violence in Nigeria.
Sexual assault is prevalent in the U.S. society, with an estimated 16% of women and 8% of men experiencing some form of sexual violence during their lifetime (Breiding, 2014). Sexual violence crosses all identity lines; however, legislation, cultural representation, and academic scholarship on sexual violence has historically been limited to assaults against women perpetrated by men. This dominant analysis of sexual assault focuses on the impact of sexism on sexual violence, neglecting the impact off other forms of oppression and attitudes related to sexuality and gender. This dominant representation leaves non-prototypical victims, such as men, people of other genders, and sexual minorities of all genders, less visible and less understood. This underrepresentation may lead to negative reactions toward these victims including blame, exoneration of the perpetrator, and reluctance to acknowledge assaults. In the current study, I explored the impact of both victim gender and sexual orientation on reactions to a hypothetical intimate partner sexual assault victim. Results indicated that perpetrators who assaulted a man were blamed less than those who assaulted a woman. Furthermore, study participants had more empathy for women who were assaulted than they did for men. There were no differences in participants’ negative reactions to victims by sexual orientation. Results suggest that, while some advances have been made in public support for sexual assault victims, these advances may not extend yet to men as victims.
De aandacht voor seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag, geweld en misbruik en voor de beleidsmatige reactie daarop is groter dan ooit. Het is geen toeval dat in 2022 het Belgisch seksueel strafrecht werd hervormd en de EU een nieuw wetgevingsvoorstel ter bestrijding van (seksueel) gendergeweld lanceerde. Tegen die achtergrond is het van belang de nieuwste inzichten uit onderzoek beschikbaar te maken. Dat is waar dit boek op inzet, vanuit criminologisch en juridisch perspectief. Twintig hot topics passeren de revue, geclusterd in vier secties. De sectie seksuele toestemming en zelfbeschikking, scripts en normen bestudeert en evalueert het wijzigende seksueel toestemmingsconcept in post-#MeToo-tijden, zowel in België als in andere Europese landen. Ze biedt ook inzicht in de seksuele scripts van jongeren en hun percepties en attitudes in verband met seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag en seksuele toestemming. Verder onderzoekt deze sectie genderstereotypen en seksueel dubbele standaarden in online contexten van sexting en niet-consensuele verspreiding van naaktbeelden, en zoomt ze in op de zwakke seksuele rechtspositie van personen met een geestelijke kwetsbaarheid. De sectie sekswerk, seksuele exploitatie en mensenhandel bestudeert de nieuwste sekswerkwetgeving in Nederland en Duitsland, twee Europese landen die al geruime tijd voor een legalisering van prostitutie kozen, en trekt daar lessen uit voor de recente Belgische decriminalisering van de exploitatie van sekswerk. Ze onderzoekt inzake mensenhandel of de strafwetgeving niet te breed wordt geïnterpreteerd en de slachtofferbescherming niet te smal, en verkent hoe slachtoffers evolueren naar lovergirls of Nigeriaanse madams. De sectie porno exploreert de grondrechtelijke legitimiteit van en de publieke opinie over het strafrechtelijk verbod op extreme porno, en bestudeert (pedofiele) meningen over en doelgroepen van virtuele misbruikbeelden van kinderen versus geanimeerde volwassenpornografie. De sectie daderbehandeling en -bejegening onderzoekt ten slotte de mogelijkheden en randvoorwaarden voor een therapeutisch gebruik van virtuele misbruikbeelden van kinderen en kinderseksrobots, gaat de impact na van zelfhulp via steungroepen op niet-pedoseksuele pedofielen, meet de welzijnsbeleving van pedoseksuelen in detentie, en biedt inzicht in publieke percepties over vrouwelijke zedendelinquenten.
In Genesis 19.30-38, Lot’s daughters commit incest with their father to save his seed. Earlier in Genesis 19.6-8, Lot offered his daughters to be raped by the men of Sodom to save the honour of his male guests. Reading these stories together, in the latter, we observe an inverted world where victims become perpetrators and vice versa. If read through trauma theory, the inversion could imply that the daughters’ rape of Lot was motivated by revenge; however, traumatic re-enactment, where the daughters repeat their earlier trauma but also invert it, could also suit the textual evidence. Verses 30–38 could be read as an attempt to master previous trauma through repetition, where the recurring descriptions of design and act of rape are central to the interpretation of the narrative. This reading does not lessen the horror of the passage but rather adds to our understanding of trauma in Genesis 19.30–38.
El fenómeno de la violencia de pareja hacia las mujeres es un
problema multifacético que puede llegar a presentarse en función
del contexto en el que se desarrolla la víctima y el perpetrador.
Por lo antes expuesto, a lo largo de este capítulo se abordan
los diferentes tipos de violencia según su uso, el contexto y
tipo de manifestación, considerando aspectos específicos como
la edad, el tipo de relación afectiva, etc. Asimismo, se resalta la
importancia de abordar otros tipos de violencias emergentes las
cuales se manifiestan a través de conductas o en entornos que
hasta hace poco fueron ignorados; por ejemplo, el control de la
pareja a través de medios electrónicos. Abordando cada uno de
estos aspectos también se pretende evidenciar que, en aspectos
generales, este problema afecta de manera significativa la salud
e integridad de sus víctimas debido a que las conductas violentas
ejercidas hacia las mujeres les generan daño y sufrimiento de
tipo físico, psicológico, sexual e incluso la muerte. Lo anterior,
además de demostrar las diversas caras del fenómeno, recomienda
que tanto la comunidad científica como las y los profesionales
de la salud desarrollen habilidades y estrategias para la prevención
y atención de todos estos tipos de violencia con el objetivo
de mejorar la calidad de vida de las víctimas, así como identificar
factores intrínsecos que no habían sido tomados en cuenta en
estudios anteriores para poder trabajar con los perpetradores de
una forma efectiva.
Researchers have found that both women and men engage in verbal and physical sexually coercive behaviours (Black et al. [2011]. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 summary report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Bouffard et al. [2016]. Examining the correlates of women’s use of sexual coercion: Proposing an explanatory model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(13), 2360–2382. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515575609). Risk factors such as rape myth acceptance and prior victimisation related to sexual coercion have been identified however, no research has examined how potential protective factors may impact engaging in this kind of behaviour. The current study examined how risk and protective factors related to the incidence of sexual coercion among a sample of 713 college women from a southern university. The results of the study supported previous findings on risk factors such as higher rape myth acceptance, having experienced prior sexual victimisation, and having a lower belief in the law, were significantly related to engaging in sexual coercion for the women in this sample. Findings indicated several protective factors were significantly related to lower chances of having engaged in sexual coercion, such as increased ability to control thoughts and behaviour and having positive social support. The significance of these findings and implications are discussed.
Practice impact statement
This article can assist educators and professionals with developing sexual assault prevention programmes by explaining what factors are significant to college-aged women’s willingness to engage in coercive behaviour.
Adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) and bullying are specific brands of adolescent violence. Research for both draw upon similar theoretical frameworks and dictates that attributes of perpetrators of either behavior are similar enough to warrant thorough research to determine their level of association. The current study builds upon previous research by examining the association of bullying and ARA. This relationship is examined using the Bullying, Sexual, and Dating Violence Trajectories from Early to Late Adolescence survey. Random effects regression analyses were used to evaluate physical, verbal, sexual, and relational ARA. Results indicate that active bullying and active bullying victimization have strong associations across all four dependent variables, especially when controlling for race and gender in some models.
Factors such as cultural norms and stereotypes influence how child sexual abuse (CSA) is perceived in relation to gender of the offender and perceptions of responsibility and harm in Puerto Rico. Finkelhor and Browne's traumagenic dynamics model served as the theoretical framework for the investigation because it addresses four key factors related to the experience of CSA victims. A total of 525 people living in Puerto Rico participated in the study. They were asked to read a hypothetical case of CSA by a teacher with a minor student and answer related questions. Point‐biserial correlational analyses were used to assess the influence of gender of the offender on perceptions of CSA. Results of the study indicated the male offender was attributed more responsibility and harm for the offence. Both male and female minor victims were identified by participants as partly responsible for the offence. Male and female offenders were identified as victims. Findings of this study could help to improve understanding of cultural differences in perceptions of CSA cases and its consequences.
Referencia de la obra general:
Rojas-Solís, J. L. (Ed.). (2022). Investigación, prevención e intervención en la violencia de pareja hacia la mujer (1ª Ed.). Puebla, México: Consejo de Ciencia y Tecnología del Estado de Puebla (CONCYTEP). Disponible en: https://bit.ly/3tGYic3?fbclid
ISBN: 978-607-8839-00-1
Studies indicated that people tend to consider female-perpetrated sexual abuse (FPSA) less serious and damaging than male-perpetrated abuse (MPSA) and the possible roles of gender stereotypes on attitudes to minimize FPSA. This study aimed to explore the role of gender stereotypes and sexuality myths on the attitudes toward FPSA among professionals. A secondary aim was to explore the role of training and experience with child sexual abuse (CSA) cases on the attitudes toward FPSA. The sample consisted of Turkish professionals ( N = 502), including mental health/social, health, and justice workers. The participants were recruited via a face-to-face online survey. The results of one-way ANOVAs showed that females and mental health/social workers were more likely to consider FPSA as a serious problem and believe the negative impact of abuse. A five-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the experience with FPSA cases, belief in gender stereotypes, and myths about female sexuality accounted for 21.7% of the variance in the attitudes toward FPSA. Although the level of professional minimization of FPSA is above average, the influential roles of gender stereotypes and sexual myths on the attitudes toward FPSA exist among professionals. Our findings supported the necessity of additional training addressing gender stereotypes and sexual myths. Future studies should also be conducted with different populations and other influential possible factors on the attitudes toward FPSA.
Child sexual abuse is a broader term used to denote when an adult or adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Despite society is aware of the female victims of child abuse, male counterparts go unheard due to the strong notions of gender stereotypes, stigma, shame and other associated effects. As per the reports from different parts of the world, on average, 12–17% of the reported child sexual abuse cases are of boys. The general preconception of society that boys do not get raped is accelerating the silence of the victims. In 2007, India Government conducted a survey on the issue and found that 52.9% of the reported child sexual abuse cases consists of male victims. Since it is a largely unexplored area, this chapter aims to understand the magnitude of the issue and its long-term effects on the victims with the help of existing research. The chapter highlights how the gender stereotypes interplay with seeking help and treatment and nullifying the impact of the issue. It is also trying to explore the challenges to tackle the issues with the management of the problem in a wider lens and trying to recommend some paths of future research and social policy formation.
Sexual violations have profound, negative impacts on social relationships. But although most people agree that sexual assault and other sexual violations are wrong, they often disagree about which acts constitute sexual violations. Moral psychological research suggests that evaluations about right and wrong actions are based on social perceptions, for instance about how actions affect others. Three studies examined whether perceptions about victims’ sexual interest and agency explain disagreements about ambiguous sexual violations (situations that lacked explicit and consistent consent or non-consent). The studies also examined whether such perceptions about sexual interest and agency in concrete situations related to general beliefs about sexual encounters, known as Rape Myths. Participants read hypothetical vignettes about potential sexual violations and reported their perceptions and evaluations of the events. Studies 1 and 2 found that, in response to ambiguous events, participants who perceived greater sexual interest and agency in the targets of sexual actions evaluated the actions more positively. The studies also found that, relative to ambiguous events, participants evaluated consensual events more positively and non-consensual events less positively. As an experimental test of the effects of perceived target interest, Study 3 manipulated conventions for signaling sexual interest. The results provided experimental evidence that perceptions of sexual interest guide evaluations of potential sexual violations. Across the three studies, individual differences in two forms of Rape Myth Acceptance predicted perceptions of target interest and agency. This research provides evidence for how social perceptions shape evaluations of potentially ambiguous sexual events, thus validating a framework for explaining and preventing disagreements about sexual violations.
True allegations of rape are not always believed, by people in general, but also by criminal investigators. Criminal investigators do not seem to be better than lay people in identifying true allegations as true, and false allegations as false. It seems better to believe all allegations of rape since true allegations are far more prevalent than false allegations. Contrary to how rapists are depicted in movies and by news agencies, most rapists try to mimic consensual sexual relations when raping. Therefore, true allegations are characterized by a lot of pseudo-intimate, and pseudo-considerate behavior and interaction. False complainants have to fabricate a rape that did not occur, and that they did not experience, which leads to detectable differences between false and true allegations of rape. Results of prior studies show that a typical false allegation of rape will contain only one sexual act and position, and the duration of the rape is brief and to the point, while a typical true allegation is the opposite.
Objective: Research consistently highlights that some community males display a propensity to engage in sexual aggression (PSA) against females. However, despite a recent increased focus on female sexual offending, academic understanding of adult male-directed PSA amongst community females’ is lacking. Method: Across three vignette studies, we recruited online three diverse independent samples of community females (Noverall = 555) to assess the prevalence of female PSA towards males. We also examined whether established risk factors associated with community males’ PSA are valid predictors of female PSA. These included ambivalent sexist attitudes, inappropriate sexual interests, general (non-sexual) aggression, impulsivity, male rape myth acceptance, and sexual preoccupation. Results: Following replication across studies, findings showed that between 26.9% and 44.0% of participants did not emphatically reject an interest in PSA towards adult males. Key predictors of participants’ non-zero endorsement of PSA included an interest in violent sexual activities, rape myth acceptance, and sexual preoccupation. Conclusions: Though lower than their male counterparts (see Bohner et al., 1998), a proportion of community females appear to self-report some interest in perpetrating male-directed sexual aggression. We discuss the implications of our findings for the prevention of female-perpetrated violence against men, alongside avenues for future research.
Sexual violence continues to plague college campuses even with the implementation of bystander intervention programs. Previous research has demonstrated that diminished situational risk recognition increases the risk for sexual assault victimization. However, there is a paucity of research comparing men’s and women’s risk perception in sexual assault scenarios, risk perception from a victim or perpetrator perspective, or the role of previous sexual violence history, rape myth acceptance, and world assumptions on sexual risk perception. The current study examined male and female college students’ risk perception while reading a sexual assault scenario. Participants also completed measures of victim and perpetrator blame, rape myth acceptance, and beliefs in a just world. The results suggested that men’s and women’s risk perception is influenced by different rape myths and world assumptions. Specifically, women’s risk perception and victim blame are associated with sexual communication myths and beliefs in the randomness of the world, while men’s risk perception and victim blame are related to the acceptance of myths that women ask for sexual assault and that the world is a just, cruel place. The results call for the incorporation of additional training on how rape myths and world assumptions may impact risk recognition and intervention in sexual assault education. It will also be important to target different barriers to intervention for men and women.
This Special Issue—“Whiteness in the Age of White Rage”—names and interrogates what is implicit in anti-racist, Indigenous, and whiteness studies: white rage. Drawing on Carol Anderson’s White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide (2017), we invited scholars to explore empirical and theoretical inquiry of how rage is a defining characteristic of settler colonialism, whiteness, and white supremacy in Canada. In this Introduction we elaborate how contemporaneously, historically, and theoretically a vital dimension of the configuration of whiteness in Canada is the normalization of rage as a property right of whiteness. Presently, as fascism is once again a global phenomenon, there is an opportunity for critical scholarship on whiteness in Canada to name and explicate the social effects and quotidian mobilization of rage in conservative and liberal articulations of white supremacy. We offer a general outline to the theme of whiteness in the age of white rage to introduce nascent scholarship that builds on the scholarship of Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and critical whiteness scholars.
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
Although recent typologies of female sexual offenders have recognized the importance of having a co-offender, the clinical characteristics of solo and co-female sexual offenders remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to compare solo (n = 20) and co- (n = 20) female sexual offenders on a variety of clinical characteristics. It was found that although solo and co-offenders reported similar developmental experiences and psychological dispositions, differences were found in environmental niche, offense preceding, and positive factors. Specifically, solo offenders demonstrated a greater presence of personal vulnerabilities including mental health and substance abuse difficulties. Co-offenders reported a greater presence of environmentally based factors, including a current partner who was a known sex offender and involvement with antisocial peers. It is suggested that these results have implications for understanding assessment and intervention needs for these groups of sexual offenders.
© The Author(s) 2014.
Problem/condition:
Sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence are public health problems known to have a negative impact on millions of persons in the United States each year, not only by way of immediate harm but also through negative long-term health impacts. Before implementation of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) in 2010, the most recent detailed national data on the public health burden from these forms of violence were obtained from the National Violence against Women Survey conducted during 1995-1996. This report examines sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization using data from 2011. The report describes the overall prevalence of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization; racial/ethnic variation in prevalence; how types of perpetrators vary by violence type; and the age at which victimization typically begins. For intimate partner violence, the report also examines a range of negative impacts experienced as a result of victimization, including the need for services.
Reporting period:
January-December, 2011.
Description of system:
NISVS is a national random-digit-dial telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. population aged ≥18 years. NISVS gathers data on experiences of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence among adult women and men in the United States by using a dual-frame sampling strategy that includes both landline and cellular telephones. The survey was conducted in 50 states and the District of Columbia; in 2011, the second year of NISVS data collection, 12,727 interviews were completed, and 1,428 interviews were partially completed.
Results:
In the United States, an estimated 19.3% of women and 1.7% of men have been raped during their lifetimes; an estimated 1.6% of women reported that they were raped in the 12 months preceding the survey. The case count for men reporting rape in the preceding 12 months was too small to produce a statistically reliable prevalence estimate. An estimated 43.9% of women and 23.4% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence during their lifetimes, including being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences. The percentages of women and men who experienced these other forms of sexual violence victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey were an estimated 5.5% and 5.1%, respectively. An estimated 15.2% of women and 5.7% of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes. An estimated 4.2% of women and 2.1% of men were stalked in the 12 months preceding the survey. With respect to sexual violence and stalking, female victims reported predominantly male perpetrators, whereas for male victims, the sex of the perpetrator varied by the specific form of violence examined. Male rape victims predominantly had male perpetrators, but other forms of sexual violence experienced by men were either perpetrated predominantly by women (i.e., being made to penetrate and sexual coercion) or split more evenly among male and female perpetrators (i.e., unwanted sexual contact and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences). In addition, male stalking victims also reported a more even mix of males and females who had perpetrated stalking against them. The lifetime and 12-month prevalences of rape by an intimate partner for women were an estimated 8.8% and 0.8%, respectively; an estimated 0.5% of men experienced rape by an intimate partner during their lifetimes, although the case count for men reporting rape by an intimate partner in the preceding 12 months was too small to produce a statistically reliable prevalence estimate. An estimated 15.8% of women and 9.5% of men experienced other forms of sexual violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes, whereas an estimated 2.1% of both men and women experienced these forms of sexual violence by a partner in the 12 months before taking the survey. Severe physical violence by an intimate partner (including acts such as being hit with something hard, being kicked or beaten, or being burned on purpose) was experienced by an estimated 22.3% of women and 14.0% of men during their lifetimes and by an estimated 2.3% of women and 2.1% of men in the 12 months before taking the survey. Finally, the lifetime and 12-month prevalence of stalking by an intimate partner for women was an estimated 9.2% and 2.4%, respectively, while the lifetime and 12-month prevalence for men was an estimated 2.5% and 0.8%, respectively. Many victims of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence were first victimized at a young age. Among female victims of completed rape, an estimated 78.7% were first raped before age 25 years (40.4% before age 18 years). Among male victims who were made to penetrate a perpetrator, an estimated 71.0% were victimized before age 25 years (21.3% before age 18 years). In addition, an estimated 53.8% of female stalking victims and 47.7% of male stalking victims were first stalked before age 25 years (16.3% of female victims and 20.5% of male victims before age 18 years). Finally, among victims of contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, an estimated 71.1% of women and 58.2% of men first experienced these or other forms of intimate partner violence before age 25 years (23.2% of female victims and 14.1% of male victims before age 18 years).
Interpretation:
A substantial proportion of U.S. female and male adults have experienced some form of sexual violence, stalking, or intimate partner violence at least once during their lifetimes, and the sex of perpetrators varied by the specific form of violence examined. In addition, a substantial number of U.S. adults experienced sexual violence, stalking, or intimate partner violence during the 12 months preceding the 2011 survey. Consistent with previous studies, the overall pattern of results suggest that women, in particular, are heavily impacted over their lifetime. However, the results also indicate that many men experience sexual violence, stalking, and, in particular, physical violence by an intimate partner. Because of the broad range of short- and long-term consequences known to be associated with these forms of violence, the public health burden of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence is substantial. RESULTS suggest that these forms of violence frequently are experienced at an early age because a majority of victims experienced their first victimization before age 25 years, with a substantial proportion experiencing victimization in childhood or adolescence.
Public health action:
Because a substantial proportion of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence is experienced at a young age, primary prevention of these forms of violence must begin early. Prevention efforts should take into consideration that female sexual violence and stalking victimization is perpetrated predominately by men and that a substantial proportion of male sexual violence and stalking victimization (including rape, unwanted sexual contact, noncontact unwanted sexual experiences, and stalking) also is perpetrated by men. CDC seeks to prevent these forms of violence with strategies that address known risk factors for perpetration and by changing social norms and behaviors by using bystander and other prevention strategies. In addition, primary prevention of intimate partner violence is focused on the promotion of healthy relationship behaviors and other protective factors, with the goal of helping adolescents develop these positive behaviors before their first relationships. The early promotion of healthy relationships while behaviors are still relatively modifiable makes it more likely that young persons can avoid violence in their relationships.
Identifying the ways in which male and female sex offenders differ is an important but understudied topic. Studies that do exist have been challenged by a reliance on small and select samples. Improving on these limitations, we use the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) to compare male and female sex offenders among all 802,150 incidents of sexual assault reported to police across 37 states between 1991 and 2011. Findings indicated some broad similarities between groups, including the most prominent offense location (home), most common victim-offender relationship (acquaintance), and the rarity of injuries or drug abuse during crimes. However, the data also showed several important differences between male and female sexual offenders. Most notably, females offended with male accomplices in more than 30% of their sexual crimes-far more often than occurred among male sexual offenders (2%). Likewise, females offended against a victim of the same sex in nearly half of their crimes, yet this was only true in approximately 10% of male sexual offenses. Implications for future research are discussed.
We assessed 12-month prevalence and incidence data on sexual victimization in 5 federal surveys that the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted independently in 2010 through 2012. We used these data to examine the prevailing assumption that men rarely experience sexual victimization. We concluded that federal surveys detect a high prevalence of sexual victimization among men-in many circumstances similar to the prevalence found among women. We identified factors that perpetuate misperceptions about men's sexual victimization: reliance on traditional gender stereotypes, outdated and inconsistent definitions, and methodological sampling biases that exclude inmates. We recommend changes that move beyond regressive gender assumptions, which can harm both women and men.
This study examined a theory constructed to describe the offense process of women who sexually offend-the Descriptive Model of Female Sexual Offending (DMFSO). In particular, this report sets out to establish whether the original three pathways (or offending styles) identified within United Kingdom convicted female sexual offenders and described within the DMFSO (i.e., Explicit-Approach, Directed-Avoidant, Implicit-Disorganized) were applicable to a small sample (N = 36) of North American women convicted of sexual offending. Two independent raters examined the offense narratives of the sample and-using the DMFSO-coded each script according to whether it fitted one of the three original pathways. Results suggested that the three existing pathways of the DMFSO represented a reasonable description of offense pathways for a sample of North American women convicted of sexual offending. No new pathways were identified. A new "Offense Pathway Checklist" devised to aid raters' decision making is described and future research and treatment implications explored.
Rape myths are one way in which sexual violence has been sustained and justified through history and modern times. However, there has been a dearth of scholarship about rape myths concerning male victims. This paper reviews the historical origins, development, and current manifestations of male rape myths prevalent in Western society. Specifically, we review male rape myths and their origins in the areas of medicine, law, media, the military, and incarcerated settings. The paper also delineates possible means for eradicating male rape myths at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between college men's sexual victimization experiences, engagement in a number of health risk behaviors, and sexual functioning. The study also examined sexual victimization by assault severity categories and utilized a multiitem, behaviorally specific, gender-neutral measure. Three hundred and two male college students were recruited for the current study from a midsized Midwestern university. Of these men, 51.2% reported at least one sexual victimization experience since age 16. The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) results suggested that male sexual victimization is related to increased weekly alcohol consumption, increased problematic drinking behaviors, increased tobacco use, increased sexual risk-taking behaviors, and increased number of reported sexual functioning difficulties. Each of these problematic behaviors was greater among those who reported rape compared to no victimization, and some differences were also found in relation to the sexual contact and sexual coercion groups. These findings have important implications in sexual assault prevention and risk-reduction programming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study presents sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric correlates of a representative sample of sexual assaulters in the United States. Data were drawn from a nationally representative survey, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Face-to-face interviews of more than 43,000 adults were conducted between the 2001-2002 period, based on the Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule-DSM-IV Version. The prevalence of committing sexual assault in the U.S. was 0.15 %. Sexual assaulters had significantly lower education than their counterparts. Sexual assaulters were significantly more likely to report a wide range of antisocial behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated strong associations between sexual assault and lifetime psychiatric disorders often associated with impaired impulse control, such as antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder, and cocaine use disorder. In addition, psychotic disorders were consistently associated with sexual assault. Our findings indicate that sexual assault could represent a behavioral manifestation of a broader spectrum, including impairment of impulse control and psychotic disorders.
In recent years there has been a steady increase in the amount of literature on perceptions of male victim of sexual assault. Much of this research focuses around the concept of victim blame. This paper reviews the research on perceptions of male victims of sexual assault, with particular reference to victim blame for male rape. The paper considers the conceptual differences in types of blame in relation to male rape. It also offers to extend the traditional feminist interpretation of victim blame to explain blame toward male as well as female victims. Perceptions of male victims of male and female perpetrators are considered, as are both adult and child victims. The paper concludes by outlining some suggestions for future work and implications for treatment of male victims of sexual assault.
Using a sample of 1,466 females convicted of a sexual offense in New York State, the current study explored the following: (a) offending prior to the commission of the offenders' first sexual offense, (b) rates of recidivism following their first sexual offense conviction, and (c) factors associated with the likelihood of sexual recidivism. Results showed the recidivism rates of female sex offenders to be lower than those of male sex offenders for all types of recidivism studied (any rearrest, felony rearrest, violent [including violent sexual] felony rearrest, and sexual rearrest). Several significant differences were found between the group of female sex offenders who sexually recidivated and the group who did not, including crime of first sexual conviction and measures of prior offending.
This article critically reviews 62 empirical studies that examine the prevalence of female-perpetrated intimate partner violence across three distinct populations (adolescents, college students, and adults). All studies were published between 1996 and 2006 and reported prevalence rates of physical, emotional, and/or sexual violence perpetrated by females in heterosexual intimate relationships. The highest rates were found for emotional violence, followed by physical and sexual violence. Prevalence rates varied widely within each population, most likely because of methodological and sampling differences across studies. Few longitudinal studies existed, limiting the extent to which we could identify developmental patterns associated with female-perpetrated intimate partner violence. Differences and similarities across populations are highlighted. Methodological difficulties of this area of inquiry as well as implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.
This paper assesses and decomposes gender disparities in federal criminal cases. It finds large unexplained gaps favoring women throughout the sentence length distribution, conditional on arrest offense, criminal history, and other pre-charge observables. Decompositions show that most of the unexplained disparity appears to emerge during charging, plea-bargaining, and sentencing fact-finding. The approach provides an important complement to prior disparity studies, which have focused on sentencing and have not incorporated disparities arising from those earlier stages. I also consider various plausible causal theories that could explain the estimated gender gap, using the rich dataset to test their implications.
In comparison to men, women commit considerably less crimes and they diverge in the paths that brought them to the attention of the criminal justice system. Women also diverge in their responses to custody and community supervision, likely due to their lower risk of reoffending and the differing nature of their risk and needs (Blanchette & Brown, 2006). In the sexual offending field, like in the general offending field, gender matters. Although in its infancy, the emerging empirical information on women who sexually offend indicate that a blanket application of research knowledge based on male sexual offenders is not a viable option. As we will see in this chapter, while men and women appear to share some characteristics, important differences in risk of recidivism and factors related to their sexually abusive behavior indicate that a gender-informed as opposed to a gender-neutral approach to the assessment and treatment of female sexual offenders is warranted. The term “gender-neutral” refers to characteristics that are linked to the criminal behavior that are equally applicable to men and women. The term “gender-informed” refers to factors unique to women offenders. This chapter provides a two-part review of the current knowledge on female sexual offenders, highlighting similarities and differences between female and male sexual offenders. The first part reviews current theoretical and empirical knowledge on female sexual offenders, including prevalence, socio-demographic features, developmental history, and offense characteristics. Typologies of female sexual offenders are also described. The second part presents recidivism rates of female sexual offenders, risk factors, and current best practices in the assessment and treatment of these women.
A woman raping another woman is unthinkable. This is not how women behave, society tells us. Our legal system is not equipped to handle woman-to-woman sexual assault, our women's services do not have the resources or even the words to reach out to its victims, and our lesbian and gay communities face hurdles in acknowledging its existence. Already dealing with complex issues related to their sexual identities, and frequently overwhelmed by shame, lesbian and bisexual survivors of such violence are among the most isolated of crime victims. In a work that is sure to stir controversy, Lori B. Girshick exposes the shocking, hidden reality of woman-to-woman sexual violence and gives voice to the abused. Drawing on a nationwide survey and in-depth interviews, Girshick explores the experiences and reflections of seventy women, documenting what happened to them, how they responded, and whether they received any help to cope with the emotional impact of their assault. The author discusses how the lesbian community has silenced survivors of sexual violence due to myths of lesbian utopia, and considers what role societal homophobia, biphobia, and heterosexism has played in this silencing. Ranging from date and acquaintance rape, to domestic sexual abuse by partners, to sexual harassment in the workplace, these explicit and harrowing stories provide a fuller understanding of woman-to-woman sexual violence than exists anywhere else. This provocative book offers much-needed insights on a subject rarely discussed in the literature on domestic violence, and it does so with compassion. Above all, it recommends how agencies can best provide services, outreach, and treatment to survivors of woman-to-woman rape and lesbian battering, using suggestions by the survivors themselves.
Although public and scientific awareness of female sexual offenders has increased, information related to this group remains scarce. This is problematic because it is clear that the research being conducted on male sexual offenders does not necessarily generalize to their female counterparts. Women convicted for sexual offenses, just like men, are in need of evidenced-based assessment and treatment practices. Using a case study approach, this chapter discusses a gender-informed assessment approach and identifies best clinical practices with female sexual offenders.
Although child sexual abuse has been studied extensively, minimal attention has been paid to sexual abuse by females. In particular, there is a dearth of research dedicated to exploring professional perspectives on female sex offending. Filling the critical gaps in the empirical literature, this exploratory study traces the ways in which a sample of Canadian police officers, and psychiatrists understood, and portrayed sexual abuse by female perpetrators. The data from this study were derived from semi-structured interviews with police officers and psychiatrists, and, in the case of police officers, direct observation, and an analysis of police reports. The study reveals how the denial of women as potential sexual aggressors is integral to understanding professional accounts and constructions of female sex offending. For these professionals, the gender of the offender appears central to the meaning of the sexual offence and thus cannot be conceptualized without its gendered context. As female sex offending challenges traditional sexual scripts concerning 'appropriate' female behaviour, it appears that efforts are made, either consciously or unconsciously, to transform the offender and her offence, realigning them with more culturally acceptable notions of female behaviour, ultimately leading to the denial of the problem.
Sexual coercion is a pervasive problem but rarely examined in men. This study examined sexual coercion and psychosocial correlates among 284 diverse adolescent and emerging adult males in high school and college. Over 4 in 10 participants (43%) experienced sexual coercion: more specifically, the participants reported: verbal coercion (31%, n = 86), seduction coercion (26%, n = 73), physical coercion (18% n = 52), and substance coercion (7%, n = 19). Rates were comparable across high school and college students. Racial differences were found such that Asian participants reported significantly lower rates of sexual coercion than Black, White, and Latino participants. Ninety-five percent of the respondents reported women as the perpetrators; participants also described internal obligation, seductive, and peer pressure tactics in descriptions of coercion experiences. Sexual coercion tactic (i.e., verbal, substance, seduction, physical) and resulting sexual activity (i.e., fondling/attempted intercourse, completed intercourse) were associated with psychosocial outcomes. Specifically, sexual coercion that resulted in sexual intercourse was associated with greater sexual risk-taking and alcohol use. Verbal and substance coercion were associated with psychological distress, and substance coercion was also associated with sexual risk-taking. Considerations for future research and practice implications are discussed.
IMPORTANCE Sexual violence can emerge in adolescence, yet little is known about youth perpetrators-especially those not involved with the criminal justice system. OBJECTIVE To report national estimates of adolescent sexual violence perpetration and details of the perpetrator experience. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Data were collected online in 2010 (wave 4) and 2011 (wave 5) in the national Growing Up With Media study. Participants included 1058 youths aged 14 to 21 years who at baseline read English, lived in the household at least 50% of the time, and had used the Internet in the last 6 months. Recruitment was balanced on youths' biological sex and age. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Forced sexual contact, coercive sex, attempted rape, and completed rape. RESULTS Nearly 1 in 10 youths (9%) reported some type of sexual violence perpetration in their lifetime; 4% (10 females and 39 males) reported attempted or completed rape. Sixteen years old was the mode age of first sexual perpetration (n = 18 [40%]). Perpetrators reported greater exposure to violent X-rated content. Almost all perpetrators (98%) who reported age at first perpetration to be 15 years or younger were male, with similar but attenuated results among those who began at ages 16 or 17 years (90%). It is not until ages 18 or 19 years that males (52%) and females (48%) are relatively equally represented as perpetrators. Perhaps related to age at first perpetration, females were more likely to perpetrate against older victims, and males were more likely to perpetrate against younger victims. Youths who started perpetrating earlier were more likely than older youths to get in trouble with caregivers; youths starting older were more likely to indicate that no one found out about the perpetration. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Sexual violence perpetration appears to emerge earlier for males than females, perhaps suggesting different developmental trajectories. Links between perpetration and violent sexual media are apparent, suggesting a need to monitor adolescents' consumption of this material. Victim blaming appears to be common, whereas experiencing consequences does not. There is therefore urgent need for school programs that encourage bystander intervention as well as implementation of policies that could enhance the likelihood that perpetrators are identified.
This Article examines female-perpetrated sexual abuse in custodial settings and its place at the intersection of race, class, and gender in order to disentangle complex and overlapping narratives of abuse, sex, desire, and transgression. Ultimately, this Article confronts our discomfort with and reluctance to acknowledge the fact that women sexually abuse men and boys in custody, and it offers possible explanations for these behaviors.
This article highlights a systematic bias in the academic, correctional, and human rights discourse that constitutes the basis for prison rape policy reform. This discourse focuses almost exclusively on sexual abuse perpetrated by men: sexual abuse of male prisoners by fellow inmates, and sexual abuse of women prisoners by male staff. But since 2007, survey and correctional data have indicated that the main perpetrators of prison sexual abuse seem to be women. In men’s facilities, inmates report much more sexual victimization by female staff than by male inmates; in women’s facilities, inmates report much higher rates of sexual abuse by fellow inmates than by male or female staff. These findings contravene conventional gender expectations, and are barely acknowledged in contemporary prison rape discourse, leading to policy decisions that are too sanguine about the likelihood of female-perpetrated sexual victimization. The selective blindness of prison rape discourse to counterstereotypical forms of abuse illuminates a pattern of reasoning I describe as “stereotype reconciliation,” an unintentional interpretive trend by which surprising, counterstereotypical facts are reconciled with conventional gender expectations. The authors of prison rape discourse tend to ignore these counterstereotypical facts or to invoke alternative stereotypes, such as heterosexist notions of romance or racialized rape tropes, in ways that tend to rationalize their neglect of counterstereotypical forms of abuse and reconcile those abuses with conventional expectations of masculine domination and feminine submission.
This paper assesses and decomposes gender disparities in federal criminal cases. It finds large unexplained gaps favoring
women throughout the sentence length distribution, conditional on arrest offense, criminal history, and other pre-charge observables.
Decompositions show that most of the unexplained disparity appears to emerge during charging, plea-bargaining, and sentencing
fact-finding. The approach provides an important complement to prior disparity studies, which have focused on sentencing and
have not incorporated disparities arising from those earlier stages. I also consider various plausible causal theories that
could explain the estimated gender gap, using the rich dataset to test their implications.
Although there has been a great deal of research conducted on sex offenders, a majority of studies have focused on male perpetrators. The general consensus is that very little is known about female sexual perpetrators due primarily to the small number of identified offenders and sociocultural factors. These issues are even more prominent for subtypes of female perpetrators such as those whose offences involve sexual sadism. The following paper examined five incarcerated female offenders, diagnosed with sexual sadism. Grounded theory analysis was used to identify psychological characteristics and behavioural patterns related to the sadistic behaviours that are not currently included in diagnostic criteria.
In this study we investigated the prevalence of sexual aggression as reported by adolescent males and females in the Netherlands. Data were collected from a low-risk school-based sample (n=219; 119 adolescent females and 100 adolescent males), a medium-risk school-based sample (vocational training) (n=237; 117 adolescent females and 120 adolescent males); and a high-risk sample from eight different juvenile justice institutions (n=377; 215 adolescent females and 162 adolescent males). Participants reported on the strategy used to force a person into sexual contact (defined as sexual touching, sexual intercourse or oral sex) against his/her will. Results showed that around 8% of the adolescent females and 10% of the adolescent males reported having used sexual aggression against a person. However, prevalence rates differed for the different samples: the juvenile institution sample showed the highest rate. Further, we found that for adolescent females “beliefs about sexual behaviour” was the only predictor of sexually aggressive behaviour, while for adolescent males being a victim of sexual abuse was the most important predictor. The results are discussed in relation to the literature on sexually aggressive offending behaviour.
Although a great deal of literature pertains to male sex offenders, it is not known whether these research findings are applicable to female sex offenders because little empirical research regarding female sex offenders exists. Currently, females make up approximately one percent to two percent of all sex offenders. This article includes a case review of the 40 registered female sex offenders in the state of Arkansas. The female sex offenders are compared to the registered male sex offenders in Arkansas. The majority of the female sex offenders were found to be Caucasian with an average age of 31 at the time of the first sex offense. Most of the offenders had a history of only one sex offense with no other criminal history. Most of the offenders were arrested for rape or first-degree sexual abuse. Females were slightly younger the male sex offenders at the time of arrest for their initial sex offense. Females were significantly more likely to be first-time offeders at the time of rest for their first sex offenders. The article concludes that female sex offenders differ slightly from males, indicating the need for the development of a new sex offender typology.
The current study explored molestation committed by females during childhood and adolescence. Participants were 546 female college students recruited from the psychology research pool at a large southeastern university. Using a questionnaire approach, 22 women (4%) described at least one experience that met the criterion for sexually molesting a younger child. Although no offender viewed the experience as having a positive effect on the victim, only 3 of the 22 (14%) viewed what occurred as child sexual abuse. Few differences were found between perpetrators and nonperpetrators on background variables and psychological adjustment. Perpetrators, however, were more likely to have been sexually abused as children and to report having some sexual interest in children.
This study examines men’s sexual victimization experiences in the United States using a nationally representative sample of victim narratives from the National Crime Victimization Survey. An analysis of men’s incidents reveals many similarities to women’s rapes and sexual assaults as well as some rather gendered differences, particularly in regard to offender sex, victims’ willingness to report to officials, and a few uniquely masculine ways in which some men frame their experiences. The study begins an important exploration of men’s descriptions of their sexual victimization experiences and responses and encourages future empirical and theoretical research of this understudied population of victims.
This article discusses some of the main issues raised by woman-to-woman sexual violence. The author emphasizes the challenges of admitting that sexual violence by women occurs, changing laws to acknowledge the seriousness of woman-to-woman sexual abuse, improving agency services for lesbian and bisexual survivors of sexual abuse, and compelling the antiviolence movement to take this issue seriously. A major focus concerns the need for a feminist analysis of sexual violence that accommodates the reality of violence and abuse by females. Similarly, the homophobic, biphobic, and heterosexist context of our lives must be confronted in order to address woman-to-woman sexual violence.
The phenomenon of juvenile female sexual offending was explored through the study of 67 youths who had been referred for either community-based or residential treatment following a documented history of sexual perpetration. These youths were compared to a group of 70 juvenile male sexual offenders across three parameters: developmental and psychiatric characteristics, history of maltreatment, and sexual perpetration characteristics. Relative to the juvenile males, the histories of the studied females reflected even more extensive and pervasive childhood maltreatment, with many of the youths exposed to the modeling of interpersonal aggression by females as well as males. The majority of these juvenile female sexual offenders demonstrated repetitive patterns of sexual offending with multiple victims, suggesting psychosexual disturbances equivalent in severity to the comparison group of males. The authors discuss typological impressions of this clinical population and their special treatment needs.
Numerous studies have documented the prevalence of forced sex in heterosexual couples. Positive effects of this research include increases in awareness about the problem among helping professionals and the public, as well as increases in support services and prevention programs. However, no research has been done on sexual coercion in gay male and lesbian relationships, and few support services exist. Therefore, this study is an investigation of the prevalence and correlates of coercive sex in gay male and lesbian relationships. Participants were 36 women and 34 men who were in gay or lesbian relationships. The results indicated that 12% of the gay men and 31% of the lesbians reported being victims of forced sex by their current or most recent partners. The higher reporting rate among women may be due to greater awareness of issues pertaining to sexual abuse, and greater likelihood of identifying various forms of coercion as force. For men, being a victim of forced sex was generally associated with being a victim of other forms of violence. For both sexes, victims of forced sex believed that it would be relatively difficult to get counseling. Implications for support services are discussed.
This chapter is reprinted from
Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, by Susan Brownmiller (1975). Krafft-Ebing, Freud, Adler, Jung, Deutsch, Horney, Marx, and Engels were mostly silent on the topic of rape as a social reality. So it remained for the latter-day feminists, free at last from the strictures that forbade us to look at male sexuality, to discover the truth and meaning in our own victimization. Critical to our study is the recognition that rape has a history, and that through the tools of historical analysis we may learn what we need to know about our current condition. The subject of rape has not been, for zoologists, an important scientific question. No zoologist has ever observed that animals rape in their natural habitat, the wild. But we do know that human beings are different. Man's structural capacity to rape and woman's corresponding structural vulnerability are as basic to the physiology of both our sexes as the primal act of sex itself. Man's discovery that his genitalia could serve as a weapon to generate fear must rank as one of the most important discoveries of prehistoric times, along with the use of fire and the first crude stone axe. Rape's critical function is nothing more or less than a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear. A reflective comment, by Claire M. Renzetti, on this chapter appears at the end of the chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"The Male Survivor" examines the phenomenon and long-term impact of sexual abuse on male children, and dispells many myths regarding the invulnerability of male victims. Mendel argues that various societal myths and beliefs have led to a profound under-recognition of male sexual abuse, and that increased attention to, and acknowledgement of, male victimization is needed to reduce the isolation of male survivors, as well as aid in the decrease of abuse incidents. Modifications and revisions of conceptual frameworks regarding long-term sequelae of childhood sexual abuse are also proposed as they apply to the male experience.
Clinical practitioners, interns, advanced students, and researchers will find the . . . research of [this book] to be a . . . contribution to understanding and treating this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In an effort to sort out the reality from the controversies and anxiety, the Family Research Laboratory, with funding from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, undertook a two-year nationwide investigation of sexual abuse in day care. The study was intended to answer a broad range of questions about the problem, looking not just at the sensational and controversial cases, but "ordinary" cases as well—cases that were handled in a routine and unremarkable fashion. This book reports that study.
The book addresses issues related to the incidence of the problem and whether day care is a high-risk environment for children (Chapter 1). It describes the perpetrators of this abuse, and tries to evaluate various strategies for screening them from access to children (Chapter 2). The book also describes the victims and the dynamics of abuse (Chapters 3 and 4) and the characteristics of facilities (Chapter 7), all with an eye toward finding vulnerabilities that might be better protected. The process of detection and disclosure is examined carefully (Chapter 5) for ideas about how to promote more, better, and earlier reports. The impact on the children is examined for help in working with victims in the aftermath (Chapter 6).
The study also looked into the social and professional response to cases of abuse. Chapter 8 describes the types of investigations that occurred, the kinds of problems encountered by investigators, and the relative effectiveness of different approaches. Chapter 9 details the types of actions taken by licensing and law-enforcement agencies, trying to evaluate whether the response was effective and appropriate. Finally, Chapter 10 discusses the kind of impact that cases had on the communities where they occurred, an impact that in some cases was profound and long-lasting. All in all, the report touches on many facets of the problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Written descriptions of sexual interaction between an adult and. a 15-year-old were utilized to study the impact of victim sex, perpetrator sex, respondent sex, and victim response (i.e., encouraging, passive, resisting) on labeling of child sexual abuse, perception of realistic victim behavior, and effect on the child. Results of responses collected from 180 male and 180 female undergraduate students revealed that participants tended to view the interaction of a male victim with a female perpetrator as less representative of child sexual abuse. Respondents also thought that male victims of this interactional pattern would experience less harm than would victims of other interactional types (e.g., female victim-male perpetrator). Findings are discussed with regard to their generalizability and the need for child sexual abuse education programs.
The current study was a chart review of 31 female sex offenders (FSO), 31 male sex offenders (MSO), 31 female violent offenders
(FO), and 31 male violent offenders (MO) using a 2 (female or male) by 2 (sex or violent offender) design. This is the first
known study to employ three control groups when researching female sex offenders. Multiple variables appeared related to gender
and crime. However, some variables emerged as FSO specific. They reported the least alcohol abuse history and had fewer admissions
of guilt to the crime than the two violent offender samples. More FSOs knew their victim and were biologically related to
their victim than MSOs. Lastly, the FSO sample was the least discriminating as to their victim’s gender and had the highest
overall rate of sexual victimization.
This article compares the characteristics of two groups of children, 34 females and 237 males, who exhibit sexual behavior problems and are clients of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Division of Children and Family Services. In addition to the children's demographic variables, descriptions of their families, their sexual-offending behaviors, their victims, other presenting problems, legal actions, and risk of reoffending factors are presented.
College students (157 men and 158 women; predominantly white middle class) from psychology courses at a midwestern university rated their agreement with statements reflecting myths that male rape cannot happen, involves victim blame, and is not traumatic to men. Statements varied by whether the rape perpetrator was a man or woman. Results showed that a majority of subjects disagreed with all myth statements, but most strongly with trauma myths. Percentages of disagreement with myths for subject groups ranged from 51% to 98%. Women were significantly more rejecting of rape myths than were men. Subjects were more likely to accept myths in which the rape perpetrator was female rather than male. Subjects' past victim experience with sexual coercion was not related to rape myth acceptance. Results are discussed in terms of societal attitudes toward rape and sex role stereotypes.
This paper critically reviewed the research literature on female sex-offenders based on all the identified studies with a sample exceeding 10 from 1989 to 2004. Thirteen studies were identified. Five exploratory studies were individually summarized and critiqued as a group. The eight comparative studies were individually discussed and critiqued. Strengths and weaknesses of the current research were discussed. Conclusions about the research and suggestions for future research were provided. Notable conclusions were: that female sex-offenders are more likely to have been sexually victimized than other populations, offended by themselves, and commit serious forms of sexual abuse. There are also some promising typologies for this heterogeneous population, but they need further replication.
A substantial percentage of men, as well as women, at a small midwestern university have been coerced into sexual intercourse in dating situations. This finding should help dispel what Sarrel and Masters (1982) described as the myth of male sexual invulnerability. Male repondents in the present study reportedly yielded to psychological and sometimes physcical pressure for sex from female dates.
This study examined the association between female sexual offending behavioral patterns, as delineated by Sandler and Freeman's (2007) typologies, and executive functioning. The sample included all referrals for sexual offender assessments within a women's maximum/medium security prison between January 2009 and October 2009. Each subject was administered the Stroop (Golden & Freshwater, 2002) and Trail Making Test (Reitan, 2004) and were assigned to a typological category. Nonparametric analyses were conducted to determine if there was an association between typology and performance on neuropsychological tests. Results yielded no significant associations between test scores and typological category. Subjects displayed average capacities for a subset of executive functions, suggesting that the mechanisms for sexually offending behavior in females may differ from males.
This paper was written as part of a joint MSW program of the College of St. Catherine and the University of St. Thomas. Research paper (M.S.W.)--College of St. Catherine ; University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul, Minn.) , 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45) and abstract.
Findings are reported from a survey examining the frequency with which women in currently aggressive same-sex relationships also report aggressive past relationships involving female partners, male partners, or members of their family of origin. Particular attention is paid to victims who also used aggression and their perceptions of whether their aggressive behavior was self-defensive or mutually aggressive.
Results indicate that about one-fourth of participants had been victims of aggression in current relationships, roughly two-thirds had been victimized by a previous male partner, and almost three-fourths had experienced aggression by a previous female partner. Among those reporting having been both victims and users of aggression, about one-fifth had used aggression in their current relationship, almost one-third used aggression with a previous male partner, and nearly two-thirds had used aggression with a previous female partner. A majority of victims who had also used aggression with a previous male partner characterized this use as self-defense, as compared to only 30% of those who had used aggression with a female partner. Instead, aggression in relationships involving a female partner was most frequently described as mutually aggressive in nature.