Young female jounalists in commercial and BBC radio and TV are
depicting the men as violent aggressors and women and children as their
hapless victimes, who have to be sheltered in one of the growing number
of Women's refuges.  Newpapers also actively depict men as cruel and
women as meek; desperate to protect their child against vicious dad.

However the truth revealed in statisitics shows a bias.  The reluctance
of CPS, the Police and social services in prosecuting women who
sexually or physically abuse children, is distorting the figures, and
leaving men to shoulder the blame for all these ills in society.  Women
while apparently may be only responsible for 5 per cent of sexual abuse
of children, are however more culpable when it comes to physical
assaults.  In some intances women are shown as the more violent, and
boys as more likely to be their victims.

Without wishing in any way to underestimate the numbers of women who
are quite awfully injured, mentally tortured or killed by their
partners, I merely wish to point out that the issue of Domestic Abuse
is far too complex, to simply allow it to be depicted as a amle thing -
it's not.

The NSPCC have valuable research which should be considered to inform
debate.

The person responsible for physical violence during childhood was most
often the mother (49%) or father (40%).

Parental violence to children

Results showed that although few had experienced the individual violent
treatments, a quarter of the sample had experienced at least one of
them. There was a small gender difference with slightly higher levels
of men than women experiencing such treatment, but a strong link with
social grade, with respondents from grades D and E almost 50% more
likely to have experienced this level of violence than those from AB
grades. Most of the violent treatment (78%) had happened at home, most
often by mother (49%) or father (40%). More than a fifth of those
reporting this violent treatment had experienced it regularly, with
young women slightly more likely to report this than young men.

More than one in ten of those receiving either this violent treatment
or the less serious physical treatment/discipline reported in chapter
two said that they had as a result frequently suffered effects such as
pain, soreness or marks lasting till next day or longer. A fifth of the
whole sample reported that they had experienced injury on at least one
occasion as a result of the treatment they received. This was most
often bruising, but small proportions reported other injuries including
head injuries, broken bones and burns.

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/wwwopac/simplesearch.htm

The research literature highlighted that females can, and do,
perpetrate sexual offences and are responsible for up to 5 per cent of
all sexual offences committed against children. These offences are
often very serious and have a wide range of negative and far-reaching
consequences for victims.

However, as well as emphasising the serious nature of female
perpetrated abuse and its consequences, the literature also suggests
the importance of being aware that sexual abuse perpetrated by females
can take subtle as well as overt forms. This can cause particular
difficulties for child welfare professionals in identifying some
abusive situations, thus underlining the need for professionals to be
open to the possibility that females, as well as males, may sexually
abuse children and to be aware of the ways abuse might manifest itself.

National child protection policy does not make any reference to the
issue of female sex offending, while current child protection
registration statistics do not provide information on the gender of the
perpetrator in relation to sexual or any other form of abuse.

The official figures for convictions and cautions indicate that
relatively small numbers of females enter the criminal justice system
for sexual offences against children. However, as statistics are only
available for cases in which the age of the child is identified by the
crime, the precise figures for female sexual offences are not readily
obtainable. Equally, while the figures are small in comparison with
those for males, the research literature on this subject indicates that
there are specific issues around identifying and prosecuting females
for child sexual abuse. Anecdotal evidence from the interviews with key
professionals also supports the concept that gender has an important
role to play in how an allegation of child sexual abuse is taken
forward. Key issues raised in the interviews included: a tendency
towards disbelief or minimisation; a lack of acceptance that females
might have an equal role or instigate abuse by themselves; an
assumption that females are coerced by male partners and seemingly
higher evidential requirements for prosecution. The importance of
raising awareness among criminal justice professionals was considered a
key means of dispelling these views.

Full report:

Bunting, L. (2005) Females who sexually offend against children:
responses of the child protection and criminal justice systems. London:
NSPCC. [NSPCC Policy Practice Research Series].
ISBN: 1842280546 


http://www.nspcc.org.uk/wwwopac/simplesearch.htm