The idea of female sexual abuse of children is often unthinkable. It is a taboo. Gender stereotypes still prevail.

Many people believe that women are innate nurturers who could not possibly be predators, aggressors, or abusers, especially not of children. Women, this attitude holds, will engage in violence, particularly sexual violence, only under male coercion. This prevalent myth can blind people to the reality.

Increasingly, women are being prosecuted and convicted for sexual crimes against children without male coercion. Although these convictions are far less than those of male offenders, scholars suggest that actual rates of abuse are likely to be much higher than official statistics suggest.

While figures in the United States suggest that women account for 12 to 17 percent of the sex offender population, research has shown that the perception of dangerousness is gender-specific. Women's sexual offenses are often discounted or minimized. Conviction rates may also be underestimated because many children who women abuse will not disclose, afraid they will not be believed or not even recognize that they experienced abuse in the first place.

Call centers for children reveal a far greater percentage of victims of female sexual abuse than do official criminal statistics; in the United Kingdom, Childline cited that 40 percent of callers reported sexual abuse by a female. If the victim is a boy, it may be even more difficult to report abuse, as boys are taught that they're supposed to want sex and that they're only ever the aggressors and never the victims. The fear of shame and disbelief may stop them from........

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