‘Lucky Boy!’; Public Perceptions of Child Sexual Offending Committed by Women
Date
2021
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Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice
Abstract
This exploratory study addresses the existing gaps on the public perceptions of
child sexual offending committed by women. Using thematic analysis, the study
extracted, coded and analysed the comments (N = 1,651) made by the general public to nine Daily Mail online newspaper articles published from 2018 to
2019, reporting the sentencing decisions of female sex offenders, who have been
charged and found guilty with the offence of sexual activity with a child. From
those comments, 170 coded themes were identified, and this amounted to 3,394
coded incidences. Unlike previous research, this study cross-examines public
responses to different typologies of offending behaviour; teachers, mothers, same
sex offenders, co-offenders and finally those who offended for financial gain. The
impact of these typologies was analysed through key descriptive case variables,
which were quantitively evaluated against the prominent themes that emerged.
It found that while people demand equal sentencing decisions between male and
female child sex offenders, this is limited by public perception when the abuser
is an attractive female and, as a result, perceived as less harmful to the child, who
is not seen no longer as a victim but as a ‘Lucky Boy’. Such preconceptions fuel
shame, social stigma and stereotyping towards sexual exposure and prevents
victims to disclose their abuse and achieve closure and justice.
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Keywords
female offenders, child sexual abuse, male victims, media framing, public perception, Female sexual offending
Citation
Bradbury, P., & Martellozzo, E. (2021). ‘Lucky Boy!’; Public Perceptions of Child Sexual Offending Committed by Women. Journal of Victimology and Victim Justice, 25166069211060091.