Editors Note: Women perpetrators of child maltreatment are represented by the pair of bars on the extreme left in each of the five graphs shown just above .

Women, so many researchers think, are as likely as men  if not more so  to commit child sexual abuse. However, although we frequently become aware of the fact that women sexually abuse children, and even though common sense tells us that since they are from the same planet, communities and families as men, the graph on the extreme right of the set of five shown just above reflects that we are incapable of seeing the truth about women, namely, that women, too, are human. Child Sexual Abuse by Women  The invisible crime The fact that women are as, if not more, likely than men to sexually abuse children is known to any child who was abused by a woman. It is known to any teenager or adult who can and wants to recall such abuse.

Is it possible that the reasoning for not giving child sexual abuse by women any attention is that it is more benign, less harmful than that by men, perhaps less violent? Well, judge for yourself.

The preceding link will take you to an index of articles, studies, and to stories such as the following. Summary of UK TV programme - Panorama - BBC1 - 10 pm Monday 6th October 1997 The sexual abuse of children by women was once thought to be so rare it could be ignored. In this programme the victims tell a different story. Summary This was a vivid and horrific programme in which the victims of sexual abuse by women told disturbing stories of emotional and physical damage: Rape and attempted murder of a 12 year old boy by a 19 year old girl

Rape and abuse of a 12 year old boy over a two year period by a 28 year old mother of four

Rape and abuse of boys by their mother

Rape and abuse of girls by their mother

Women taking a lead role in pornographic violence and abuse

Children abused by nuns

Children abused at play group

Boy abused by lesbians It was acknowledged that the scale and nature of these attacks had been severely underestimated and there were examples of women using excessive force with implements such as chair legs and cutlery. Full story _____________________

(In the US, there are an estimated 520,000 false rape allegations a year  98.1% of all reported cases. (Eeva Sodhi, Debunking Domestic Violence Statistics; Rape)