Does paedophilia differ with gender…?

Until relatively recent times the recognition of female paedophilia was not as profound as that of the male paedophile, and if it was, it was rarely highlighted. However studies in some forms have been held over the last twenty years which tell us that society has struggled to grasp and comprehend the concept of a female sexually abusing small children. This is in some way understandable; it was not until the 1950′s (Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female – Kinsey, 1953) that female sexuality truly began to be studied in depth and often to extreme criticism and scepticism – is it any wonder then that exploring the darker and more sinister side of female sexuality has remained by and large taboo…?

Sexual abuse, we know, is about power and gratification from that power which are two aspects normally not associated with female sexuality. It is acknowledged that men often assert power through their sexuality and use it to control and manipulate their victim. This feeling of overpowering and control of their victim gives way to the gratification they feel by doing so – why then can we not attribute these aspects to females who abuse children and how do we understand why they do so…?

The emergence of the female paedophile has been largely an unseen threat until recent times. Few studies were conducted, research is sketchy, some prominent feminists opposed the whole idea and many even refused to acknowledge it even existed. Why are we now seeing more cases of female paedophilia? Possibly access to the internet, and more recently mobile phones with cameras, has enabled such women to form a support network – and worse – to connect with male paedophiles who expertly manipulate such women to commit their acts of depraved abuse. Do women require manipulation to abuse or do they abuse of their own free will…?

Both. Both sexes are capable of depravity and sadism. The more high profile cases e.g. Myra Hindley, Vanessa George and Angela Allen, highlighted relatively ‘normal’ women whose perverted tendencies found release when they came under the influence of other depraved males (e.g Ian Brady, Colin Blanchard…). These females abused children in their care not so much to enjoy feeling ‘power’ over their victims but to enjoy being ‘under control’ to a male urging them on. It has been suggested (Sax & Deckwitz) that such behavior can differ with gender; a female paedophile will cunningly exploit the expectation of her to be ‘nurturing and caring’ to a small child she has access to, and thus in Vanessa George’s case, can easily deceive those entrusting children to her care. In past cases male abusers have used willing females to lure their victims in the knowledge than nobody expects a woman to harm a child…in this way are females more deadlier than the male? put it this way – female abusers attract a far deeper level of hatred and revulsion than males due to the way in which the female will deliberately use her ‘charm’ to deceive and then harm.

So how do we begin to treat female paedophiles?  one prison in the United Kingdom is introducing a programme to treat female paedophiles. In cases involving children abused by females it was found that 70% of the female abusers acted alone, something which not too long ago would never have been acknowledged as actual paedophilia. As female sexuality has always been seen as more complicated and complex than male sexuality it will be interesting to see just how authorities attempt to rehabilitate abusers such as Angela Allen and Vanessa George. In the case of a male paedophile he can be ‘treated’ to a certain extent by chemical castration combined with intensive counselling, but the physiological side of treatment would not work in the case of a female paedophile when in cases like the Allen/George situation the decision to abuse was fuelled by desire to please a third party rather than to satisfy their own urges. In this case their evil actions were deliberate and calculated – surely this warrants punishment and not ‘treatment’.