Introduction
Naturally, women are stereotyped to be protective of their children, nurturing and caring so that they are rarely seen to be involved in criminal behaviors, especially in sexual offending (Zack et al., 2018). As a result of the contrasting perception of women and their roles in society, the studies showing that men are most likely to engage in sex offending crimes make female sex offending neglected in the criminal justice system. Anderson et al. (2020) note that little research has been done on female sex offenders. On many occasions where a woman is found to have committed a crime, it is always assumed that there must be an underlying reason for their actions because their stereotyped roles show the inequality of males and females in the criminal justice system. In addition, the limited research on female sexual offending has left significant gaps in understanding female sexual offenders compared to male sexual offending (Comartin, 2018). This paper examines the prevalence and the typologies of sex offenders, including the theories used to explain the behavior of sex offenders.
The prevalence of Female Sex Offenders
According to Anderson et al. (2020), men and women perpetrators target adolescents and children regarding sexual abuse crimes, with women committing 4% of the crimes and men having the majority at 96%. The female sex offenders use different approaches to abuse the victims, including using their statuses as caregivers or teachers to abuse children and adolescents they are close to sexually. In their article examining the factors related to female sex offending, Comartin et al. (2018) found that majority of the female sex offenders who abuse children might be the child’s caregiver, the parent, or have a co-offender. Studies show that only 10% of the arrested sexual offenders are female, with a majority being juvenile offenders (Cortoni et al., (2017). Cortoni et al. (2017) found that young female offenders are more than adult offenders by 2%, showing a significant difference between the two groups. The findings support Anderson et al. (2020) claim that many female sex offenders, especially adults, started committing the crime at a younger age and evaded the criminal justice system. Because it is difficult for victims to report cases of sexual abuse, and women not being the first suspects when it comes to those cases.
In a report by Tozdan et al. (2019), they found that among the 40 804 sexual crimes that women committed between 1991-1996, 49% of the victims were between 12-17 years old, 305 were between 6-12 years old, and 21% of the victims were less than six years old. However, it is essential to note that these are statistics from the cases reported to the police. These statistics can be very different from what is happening, considering many sexual crimes are not reported. They remain between the offender and the victim, especially in conservative families or children who do not know when they are sexually abused. While examining the prevalence of female sexual offending between 1991-2011, William & Bierie (2015) found that only a third of the female sexual offending has a co-offender, mainly male, meaning that most female sexual crimes are solely male done by women. They also found that female sexual offenders selected both males and females compared to their male counterparts who majorly offended against female individuals.
The victims of female sexual offenders are also majorly less than 18 years old and are often related to the offenders in one way or another, whether as a parent, teacher, or babysitter. Despite having relations or knowing their victims, most female sex offenders do don use violence compared to the male sex offenders who have been recorded to use more violence and cause physical injuries to their victims (Comartin et al., 2018). Comartin et al. (2018) also note that many female offenders are victims of previous trauma, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental illnesses, or substance abuse, so they use sex to compensate for the trauma they experienced in childhood. It has also been found that the criminal justice system treats female sex offenders differently than their male counterparts so that men receive 6%-31% longer prison sentences than women. The difference in the punishment is attributed to the traditional stereotyping of women as caregivers and nurturers or the need for the criminal justice system to protect women despite their illegal position. Gender difference is noted without any blurry lines in this section of the criminal system, especially with the belief that women can hardly be involved in sexual abuse as the abuser. If they are, then they are coerced by dominant men.
Typologies of Female Sex Offenders
Anderson et al. (2020) have examined different groups of female sex offenders, considering the difference in the modus operandi between the female sex offenders. Some of the typologies include solo offenders who abuse adolescents, co-offenders, repetitive abusers, sexually curious, and predisposed offenders.
The solo offenders who abuse adolescents are the female offenders who act alone on their own accord to abuse their victims through teacher/student or heterosexual nurturer relationships. They voluntarily enter into sexual relations with their victims, majorly their students or the people they babysit, with the excuse that it is consensual and mutual. These offenders often come from healthy backgrounds as children but lack emotional connections, live in loneliness, and have feelings of abandonment in adulthood. Therefore, they fall in love with their victims, hoping they will fill the voids of loneliness and emotional closeness (Anderson et al., 2020). The heterosexual nurtures and teacher/lover offenders are mainly motivated by the need to feel powerful and in control of their relations that they haven’t had in their adult relationships. They often feel like their victims are old enough and fail to notice that the relations are illegal and might negatively affect the victims.
The co-offenders typology includes the female offenders accompanied by male offenders in committing sexual crimes. Anderson et al. (2020) note that this group consists of offenders who are in “physical or abuse relationships with men who desire or fantasize about bringing children into their sexual relationship” (p.3). Therefore, they can either be forced into committing the offense or can give their consent to the relationship. Despite the finding that most of the female offenders with male co-offenders are mainly people with substance abuse problems who depend on the men in their lives to dictate how they live and the kind of relationships they have, Comartin et al. (2018) note that some of the co-offending females are willing to commit the crime without force. In some cases, however minimal, they are the ones who suggest and take control of participation in the offense.
There are also the predisposed offenders who act alone in assaulting prepubescent children. These offenders are often characterized by psychopathologies so that they have the post-traumatic disorder as a result of the sexual abuse they experienced in childhood. Their behavior motivated by sexual arousal and the need for power makes them aggressive and sadistic towards children as they often want the children to feel the same way they did in childhood. These offenders often target the youngest group of children who have no power to defend themselves, usually six years old or younger (Anderson, 2020). They are not afraid to be involved in incense acts since they experienced the same in childhood. These offenders can be considered one of the most violent female sex offender typologies because of their aggressive motivations and psychological problems. On the other hand, repetitive abusers are adolescent offenders who share the same characteristics as the adult predisposed offenders as they are also emotionally unstable and have been victims of sexual abuse in childhood. To prevent these adolescents from becoming predisposed offenders in adulthood, they should be treated because they are always violent abusers with many victims if their mental health is not treated early enough.
On the other hand, the sexually curious, mainly adolescents are the offenders who target the younger people they babysit because of their curiosity (Anderson et al., 2020). They are the young people who do not know much about sex because they have not had any sexual experiences and want to learn more by using the unknowing younger people as their experiment. Even though they do not have any emotional or psychological problems that mediate their behaviors, they are usually teenagers who have not had boyfriends but have seen many of their peers with boyfriends who have had sexual relations. There is also a group involved in sexual offenses for financial gain where they act directed by others so they can be paid. These offenders can include those involved in filming pornographic videos with minors, those who “pimp” out juveniles to adults, and those who have sexual relations with children in exchange for money. Overall, all the groups of female sex offenders are motivated by different factors, including money, power, sexual arousal, or emotional closeness. Ultimately, despite the situation that leads them into committing the crime, they are still considered sex offenders and need to be investigated and punished under the criminal justice system.
According to Anderson et al. (2020), two major theories are used to explain female sexual offending, including the multifactor theories and the single factor theory. Anderson et al. (2020) note that “single-factor theories rely on a narrow set of elements to explain sex offending” (p.4). For example, when an individual is said to have committed a sexual offense because they were sexually aroused, the explanation is biological and under the single factor theories. On the other hand, multifactor approaches, which also includes the integrated view by Marshall & Barbaree, relies on the principle that “sex offending is caused by multiple factors that include one’s developmental experiences, biological processes, cultural norms, and psychological vulnerability” (Anderson et al., 2020, p.4).
The integrated theory especially explains the behaviors of the offenders who have emotional instability like the repetitive abusers and predisposed offenders who try to imitate the bad things they experienced in childhood to compensate or make themselves feel better. Those who experienced physical and sexual abuse in childhood commit sexual offenses to feel powerful and competent in a way they did not get to be or feel when they were younger. On the other hand, those abandoned by their parents and who always feel alone will commit sexual offenses to treat their psychological wounds to fill the emotional voids they have always had or gotten in adulthood, like in the case of teacher/lover relationships.
Comartin et al. (2018) also briefly notes the three pathways established by other researchers, including the explicit approach, directed avoidant, and implicit disorganized offenders. In the explicit approach, offenders are actively involved in sexual offenses intentionally without pressure from others. On the other hand, the directed avoidant offenders are pressured by male accomplices into committing sexual assault despite having no intention to do so. The implicit disorganized offenders are partially involved in the planning and act impulsively without much intention. Therefore, as Turner et al. (2018) note, one of the most significant factors that explain sexual offending behavior is impulsivity, where individual acts without intention, strongly driven by their emotional status at a specific moment. According to the theories used to understand sexual offending behaviors, the factors that lead to or contribute to the behavior can range from biological, psychological to cultural, so either of the elements can trigger an individual. For example, in a society where images of children are sexualized, an individual with a sexual desire can decide to fulfill the desire by sexually assaulting a child, either impulsively or intentionally.
In conclusion, female sex offenders are also just as guilty as male sex offenders because the consequences of their actions are also just as dangerous and impactful on the victims. However, there is still no fairness and equality in the sentencing decisions for women, which is still considered to be complicated since women are less likely to commit sexual offenses. Despite this, as years go by, more women are continually reported to be offenders in sexual crimes, theoretically motivated by their need to be in control, feel powerful, or even lack emotional closeness. These motivations are caused by different psychological, sociocultural, or biological factors under the theories of single factors or multifactor. Therefore, the different types of female sex offenders, including the sexually curious, repetitive abusers, solo offenders who abuse adolescents, co-offenders, and predisposed offenders, are driven by different factors so that some are more aggressive and violent than others. Ultimately, those caused by mental illness, psychological issues, or abuse they experienced in childhood are the most violent and should be treated appropriately before they become adults to reduce the incidence of female sexual offenses. Legal actions also need to be properly taken so the public can know the existence of female sex offenders and to warn the female sex offenders that they will not be treated lightly, primarily when they act alone without pressure from their male counterparts. Overall, female sexual offending is also a serious criminal issue that continues to grow and needs to be given more attention by researchers and the criminal justice system.
References
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Comartin, E. B., Burgess-Proctor, A., Kubiak, S., & Kernsmith, P. (2018). Factors related to co-offending and coerced offending among female sex offenders: The role of childhood and adult trauma histories. Violence and Victims, 33(1), 53-74.
Cortoni, F., Babchishin, K. M., & Rat, C. (2017). The proportion of sexual offenders who are female is higher than thought: A meta-analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 44(2), 145-162.
Tozdan, S., Briken, P., & Dekker, A. (2019). Uncovering female child sexual offenders—Needs and challenges for practice and research. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(3), 401-411
Turner, D., Laier, C., Brand, M., Bockshammer, T., Welsch, R., & Rettenberger, M. (2018). Response inhibition and impulsive decision-making in sexual offenders against children. Journal of abnormal psychology, 127(5), 471.
Williams, K. S., & Bierie, D. M. (2015). An incident-based comparison of female and male sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse, 27(3), 235-257.
Zack, E., Lang, J. T., & Dirks, D. (2018). “It must be great being a female pedophile!”: The nature of public perceptions about female teacher sex offenders. Crime, media, culture, 14(1), 61-79.
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