Female Perpetrators of Sexual Abuse

Öz

Women’s potential for sexual abuse was not recognized, until recently. Defining women as “victims” rather than “aggressors” in sexual assaults and also considering women as “primary caregivers” for children may be one of the main reasons for ignoring their potential to be sexually abusive. Recent findings showed that women sexually abuse children they closely know, and care for. Although, the information about prevalence and characteristics of female-perpetrated sexual abuse has started to be obtained with the increase in research on female sexual abusers, detailed information as much as male sexual abusers are still necessary. Although the prevalence of female-perpetrated sexual abuse is not precise, recent research suggest that is much higher than thought. Studies reported problematic relationships with women, depression, substance abuse, suicide attempts, anxiety problems, sexual problems, identity confusion, feelings of betrayal in the victims of female-perpetrated sexual abuse. Treatment programs for male sexual abusers are frequently used in the treatment of female abusers, but these programs do not respond to the needs of female sexual abusers. There is an absence of regular data on female sexual abusers in Turkey, so studies on female sexual abusers and the victims are required.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Female abusers
• sexual abuse
• female pedophiles

Kadın Cinsel İstismarcılar

Öz

Kadınların cinsel istismarcı olabilme potansiyeli yakın zamana kadar kabul edilmemiştir. Özellikle kadınların cinsel saldırılarda “saldırgan”dan ziyade “mağdur” olarak tanımlanması, ayrıca çocuklar için temel bakıcı figürü olarak değerlendirilmeleri onların istismarcı olabilme potansiyellerinin göz ardı edilmesinin temel nedenlerinden biri olabilmektedir. Elde edilen son bulgular kadınların tanıdıkları ve özellikle bakım verdikleri çocukları istismar edebileceklerini göstermektedir. Kadın cinsel istismarcılar konusunda yakın dönemli çalışmaların da artmasıyla kadın istismarcıların yaygınlığı ve özellikleri hakkında bilgiler edinilmeye başlanmış olsa da bu grup hakkında erkek cinsel istismarcılar kadar detaylı bilgileri henüz elde edilememiştir. Kadın cinsel istismarcıların yaygınlığı konusunda da henüz net bir oran bulunmamakla birlikte yakın dönemli çalışmalarda düşünüldüğünden çok daha fazla olduğu ifade edilmektedir. Yapılan çalışmalarda kadın cinsel istismarı mağdurlarında sıklıkla kadınlarla sorunlu ilişkiler, depresyon, madde kullanımı, intihar girişimleri, kaygı bozuklukları, cinsel bozukluklar, benlik karmaşası, ihanete uğrama hissi rapor edilmektedir. Kadın cinsel istismarcıların tedavisinde erkek istismarcılar için uygulanan programlar sıklıkla kullanılmakta ancak bu programlar kadın istismarcıların ihtiyaçlarına yanıt vermemektedir. Ülkemizde kadın cinsel istismarcılara yönelik düzenli verilerin olmadığı görülmekle birlikte, konu hakkında yürütülecek çalışmalara ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• kadın istismarcılar
• cinsel istismarcılar
• kadın pedofiller

Kaynakça

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