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Article: The myth of innocence: sexual scripts and the recognition of child sexual abuse by female perpetrators.
- Article from:
- The Journal of Sex Research
- Article date:
- August 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Although child sexual abuse has been studied extensively, minimal attention has been paid to sexual abuse by females. This paper explores the prevalence of female sex offending and reveals the paradoxes that exist within the available data. Moreover, it highlights the role of traditional sexual scripts in impending the official recognition of the problem. Traditional Sexual scripts, particularly the perception of females as sexually passive harmless, and innocent, appear not only to have influenced broader societal views concerning sexuality and sexual abuse but also to have permeated the criminal law, victim reporting practices, and professional responses to female sex ...