Women Abused In Sex
Data from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recently revealed that, between 1950 and 2010, 60% of all abuse allegedly took place at faith-based institutions. Evidence showed that, in Catholic institutions, 95% of alleged offenders were men. This means the remaining 5% (or 96 of the 1,880 accused) were women.
women abused in sex
This may come as a surprise. There is a common misconception that all child sex offenders are men. But women child sex offenders do exist, although they differ from male counterparts in several ways.
But female child sex offenders are a mixed group and while for some, the sexual abuse of children is purely financially driven, other women engage in abuse as well. An example would be the infamous UK case of Marie Black, who was jailed in 2015 for 23 offences including rape, conspiracy to rape, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Our current understanding of women who sexually abuse children is founded on very limited research. Therefore, we need to reconstruct our ideas about child sex offenders to include woman as a distinct sub-group, and undertake considerably more research to get a better understanding of the causes behind these offences.
Similar to other addictive drugs, fewer females than males use marijuana.13 For females who do use marijuana, however, the effects can be different than for male users. Research indicates that marijuana impairs spatial memory in women more than it does in men,22,23 while males show a greater marijuana-induced high.24,25
For both sexes, marijuana use disorder is associated with an increased risk of at least one other mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety. However, men who are addicted to marijuana have higher rates of other substance use problems as well as antisocial personality disorders. By contrast, women who are addicted to marijuana have more panic attacks39 and anxiety disorders.40,41 Although the severity of marijuana use disorders is generally higher for men, women tend to develop these disorders more quickly after their first marijuana use.42 Rates of seeking treatment for marijuana use disorder are low for both sexes.43
Women tend to begin using methamphetamine at an earlier age than do men,50,51 with female users typically more dependent on methamphetamine compared to male users.53,55 Women are also less likely to switch to another drug when they lack access to methamphetamine.50 In addition, as with other substances, women tend to be more receptive than men to methamphetamine treatment.51,54,56
Research suggests that MDMA produces stronger hallucinatory effects in women compared to men, although men show higher MDMA-induced blood pressure increases.57 There is some evidence that, in occasional users, women are more prone than men to feeling depressed a few days after they last used MDMA.58 Both men and women show similar increases in aggression a few days after they stop using MDMA.58,59
MDMA can interfere with the body's ability to eliminate water and decrease sodium levels in the blood, causing a person to drink large amounts of fluid. In rare cases, this can lead to increased water in the spaces between cells, which may eventually produce swelling of the brain and even death. Young women are more likely than men to die from this reaction, with almost all reported cases of death occurring in young females between the ages of 15 and 30.60,61 MDMA can also interfere with temperature regulation and cause acute hyperthermia, leading to neurotoxic effects and even death.62
Some research indicates that women are more sensitive to pain than men68 and more likely to have chronic pain,69 which could contribute to the high rates of opioid prescriptions among women of reproductive age.70 In addition, women may be more likely to take prescription opioids without a prescription to cope with pain, even when men and women report similar pain levels. Research also suggests that women are more likely to misuse prescription opioids to self-treat for other problems such as anxiety or tension.71
A possible consequence of prescription opioid misuse is fatal overdose, which can occur because opioids suppress breathing. In 2016, 7,109 women and 9,978 men died from prescription opioid overdose (a total of 17,087)* which is about 19 women per day compared to about 27 men dying from overdosing on prescription opioids. However, from 1999 to 2016, deaths from prescription opioid overdoses increased more rapidly for women (596 percent or sevenfold) than for men (312 percent or fourfold). Women between the ages of 45 and 54 are more likely than women of other age groups to die from a prescription opioid overdose.72
Women are more likely to seek treatment for misuse of central nervous system depressants,14 which include sedatives sometimes prescribed to treat seizures, sleep disorders, and anxiety, and to help people fall asleep prior to surgery. Women are also more likely than men to die from overdoses involving medications for mental health conditions, like antidepressants. Antidepressants and benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety or sleep drugs) send more women than men to emergency departments.73 Because women are also more at risk than men for anxiety74,75 and insomnia,76 it is possible that women are being prescribed more of these types of medications; greater access can increase the risk of misuse and lead to substance use disorder or overdose.
Drinking over the long term is more likely to damage a woman's health than a man's, even if the woman has been drinking less alcohol or for a shorter length of time.77,78 Comparing people with alcohol use disorders, women have death rates 50 to 100 percent higher than do men, including deaths from suicides, alcohol-related accidents, heart disease, stroke, and liver disease.79 In addition, there are some health risks that are unique to female drinkers. For example, heavy drinking is associated with increased risk of having unprotected sex, resulting in pregnancy or disease,80 and an increased risk of becoming a victim of violence and sexual assault. In addition, drinking as little as one drink per day is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer in some women, especially those who are postmenopausal or have a family history of breast cancer.79
Research indicates that men and women differ in their smoking behaviors. For instance, women smoke fewer cigarettes per day, tend to use cigarettes with lower nicotine content, and do not inhale as deeply as men.84 Women also may smoke for different reasons than men, including regulation of mood and stress.85 It is unclear whether these differences in smoking behaviors are because women are more sensitive to nicotine, because they find the sensations associated with smoking less rewarding, or because of social factors contributing to the difference; some research also suggests women may experience more stress and anxiety as a result of nicotine withdrawal than men.86
The number of smokers in the United States declined in the 1970s and 1980s, remained relatively stable throughout the 1990s, and declined further through the early 2000s. Because this decline in smoking was greater among men than women, the prevalence of smoking is only slightly higher for men today than it is for women. Several factors appear to be contributing to this narrowing gender gap, including women being less likely than men to quit and more likely to relapse if they do quit.90
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult or older adolescent.[9][10] It includes direct sexual contact, the adult or otherwise older person engaging indecent exposure (of the genitals, female nipples, etc.) to a child with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to intimidate or groom the child, asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities, displaying pornography to a child, or using a child to produce child pornography.[9][11][12]
Sexual abuse is a problem in some minority communities. In 2007, a number of Hispanic victims were included in the settlement of a massive sexual abuse case involving the Los Angeles archdiocese of the Catholic Church.[28] A qualitative study by Kim et al. discusses the experiences of sexual abuse in the US population of Mexican immigrant women, citing immigration, acculturation, and several other social elements as risk factors for abuse.[29]
Captive breeding activities are sometimes described as sexual abuse.[30] People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has specifically objected, for example, to SeaWorld's breeding of orcas (Orcinus orca).[30] Captive breeding of animals led to the idea of capturing and enslaving women for involuntary breeding according to Charles Patterson.[31]
In the emergency department, contraceptive medications are offered to women raped by men because about 5% of such rapes result in pregnancy.[32] Preventative medication against sexually transmitted infections are given to victims of all types of sexual abuse (especially for the most common diseases like chlamydia, gonorhea, trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis) and a blood serum is collected to test for STIs (such as HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis).[32] Any survivor with abrasions are immunized for tetanus if 5 years have elapsed since the last immunization.[32] Short-term treatment with a benzodiazepine may help with acute anxiety and antidepressants may be helpful for symptoms of PTSD, depression and panic attacks.[32]
In October 2020, a powerful member of the United Arab Emirates' royal family, Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, was accused of exploiting his authority by a British citizen, Caitlin McNamara, who was working on Abu Dhabi Hay Festival. On February 14 that year, the UAE's Minister of Tolerance called McNamara for a dinner at his villa on private island and sexually abused the woman, who was organizing the literary festival for the country.[55]
Take a moment and picture an image of a rapist. Without a doubt, you are thinking about a man. Given our pervasive cultural understanding that perpetrators of sexual violence are nearly always men, this makes sense. But this assumption belies the reality, revealed in our study of large-scale federal agency surveys, that women are also often perpetrators of sexual victimization. 350c69d7ab