See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308844135 Sexual Victimization Perpetrated by Women: Federal Data Reveal Surprising Prevalence Article in Aggression and Violent Behavior · September 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.avb.2016.09.007 CITATIONS READS 4 4,444 3 authors: Lara Stemple Andrew Ryan Flores UCLA Mills College 14 PUBLICATIONS 250 CITATIONS 20 PUBLICATIONS 127 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Ilan H Meyer University of California, Los Angeles 111 PUBLICATIONS 12,427 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: http://www.generations-study.com View project Post-policy project View project All content following this page was uploaded by Ilan H Meyer on 01 December 2016. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. AVB-01047; No of Pages 9 Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aggression and Violent Behavior Sexual victimization perpetrated by women: Federal data reveal surprising prevalence Lara Stemple a,⁎, Andrew Flores b, Ilan H Meyer c a Health and Human Rights Law Project, UCLA School of Law, United States b Mills College, United States c Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, United States article info abstract Article history: This article examines female sexual perpetration in the U.S. To do so, we analyzed data from four large-scale fed- Received 11 January 2016 eral agency surveys conducted independently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau Received in revised form 13 July 2016 of Justice Statistics in 2008 through 2013. We found these data to contradict the common belief that female sex- Accepted 26 September 2016 ual perpetration is rare. We therefore reviewed the broader literature to identify patterns and provide context, Available online xxxx including among high-risk populations such as college students and inmates. We recommend that professionals responding to this problem avoid gender stereotypes that downplay the frequency and impact of female sexual Keywords: Rape perpetration so as to comprehensively address sexual victimization in all forms. Sexual victimization © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Female perpetration 1. Introduction (Stemple & Meyer, 2014). Because most male victims reported female perpetrators, we felt additional research was needed to better under- Sexual victimization perpetrated by women is a form of abuse that stand sexual victimization that runs counter to traditional assumptions has long been misunderstood and minimized (Vandiver & Walker, about the sex of perpetrators. 2002). While documented in the research literature beginning in the Here we turn once again to large-scale federal agency surveys, this 1930s (Strickland, 2008; Denov, 2003a; Williams, Ghandour, & Kub, time to glean an overall picture of the prevalence and incidence of fe- 2008; Davin, Hislop, & Dunbar, 1999; Fromuth & Conn, 1997; male sexual perpetration in the U.S. We looked at perpetration against Saradjian, 1996), the systematic study of female sexual perpetration both male and female victims. We examined four surveys conducted in- was not undertaken until the 1990s, and even then, the literature dependently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remained underdeveloped, much of it examining only child sexual and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2008 through 2013 abuse (Denov, 2001; Strickland, 2008). To date, no clinical studies in- (Table 1). Ours is the first study to examine together large federal data volving large numbers of female sexual perpetrators exist (Pflugradt & sets, obtained from nationally representative samples (except in the Cortoni, 2015). The last decade has, however, seen a notable uptick in case of inmates). Together these surveys have reached many tens of other empirical research on female sexual perpetration (Cortoni, thousands of people, and each has shown internally consistent results 2015), which has begun to expand the knowledge base on this other- over time. We therefore believe that this article provides more defini- wise neglected topic. tive estimates about the prevalence of female sexual perpetration than Our own interest in female sexual perpetration was catalyzed by our has been provided in the literature to date. Taken as a whole, the reports prior research analyzing large-scale federal agency surveys conducted we examine document surprisingly significant prevalence of female- in 2010 through 2012 which found a high prevalence of sexual victimi- perpetrated sexual victimization, mostly against men and occasionally zation perpetrated against men (Stemple & Meyer, 2014). We identified against women. The findings are sufficiently robust so as to compel a re- factors that lead to the persistent minimizing of male victimization, in- thinking of long-held stereotypes about sexual victimization and cluding reliance on gender stereotypes, outdated definitions of sexual gender. victimization, and sampling biases. Yet we remained perplexed by We also highlight other findings in the broader literature that illumi- some of the more striking findings. The Centers for Disease Control nate this phenomenon. Some research has found that women them- and Prevention (CDC), for example, found that women and men report- selves report committing abuse in surprisingly high proportions, and ed a nearly equal prevalence of nonconsensual sex in a 12-month period others have examined the behavior patterns of at-risk populations such as college students and adults and juveniles held in confinement. ⁎ Corresponding author. A look at these studies helps shed light on the female perpetration dy- E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Stemple). namics at play in different contexts. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.09.007 1359-1789/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Please cite this article as: Stemple, L., et al., Sexual victimization perpetrated by women: Federal data reveal surprising prevalence, Aggression and Violent Behavior (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.09.007 2 L. Stemple et al. / Aggression and Violent Behavior xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Table 1 US Federal Agency Surveys of Sexual Victimization Using Probability Samples. Study Year of Conducted by Sample No. study National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2011 Centers for Nationally representative telephone survey of 12 months and 12,727 (NISVS) Disease Control lifetime prevalence data on sexual violence, stalking, and intimate and Prevention partner violence National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010 Centers for Nationally representative telephone survey of 12 months and 16,507 (NISVS); and 2010 Findings on Victimization by Sexual Disease Control lifetime prevalence data on sexual violence, stalking, and intimate Orientation (NISVS-SO) and Prevention partner violence National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) 2010–2013 Bureau of Justice Multistage stratified cluster survey with a rotating panel design. 146,811 Statistics Interviews are conducted every six months and households are households rotated into and out of the sample 31,099 incidents Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities as Reported by 2012 Bureau of Justice Multistage stratified survey of facilities in each state of the United 8707 Youth; National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC Statistics States and random sample of youths within selected facilities 2012) Sexual Victimization Reported by Former State 2008 Bureau of Justice Multistage stratified survey of parole offices in 40 states of the United 17,738 Prisoners; National Former Prisoner Survey (NFPS) Statistics States and random sample of former prisoners within selected offices. A focus on female perpetration might be skeptically viewed as an at- we examine female perpetration so as to explore the gender dynamics tempt to upend a women's rights agenda focused on male-perpetrated at play and to understand sexual victimization more fully. In so doing, sexual victimization. But attention to female perpetration need not ne- we argue that new attention to female sexual perpetration serves im- gate concern about other forms of abuse. Moreover, a close look a sexual portant feminist goals. victimization perpetrated by women is consistent with feminist imper- Stereotypes about women, which reflect gender and heterosexist atives to undertake intersectional analyses, to take into account power biases, include the notion that women are nurturing, submissive help- relations, and to question gender-based stereotypes, as we explain. mates to men. The idea that women can be sexually manipulative, dom- For example, we know that juveniles in detention, where victimization inant, and even violent runs counter to these stereotypes (Byers, 1996; flourishes, are disproportionately drawn from racial and ethnic minori- Pflugradt & Allen, 2012). Yet studies have documented female- ties (Hartney & Vuong, 2009). We know that women who commit sex- perpetrated acts that span a wide spectrum of sexual abuse, which in- ual victimization sometimes co-offend with coercive male partners clude even severe harms such as nonconsensual oral sex, vaginal and (Faller, 1987; Johansson-Love & Fremouw, 2006; Matthews, Matthews, anal penetration with a finger or object, and intercourse (Hetherton, & Speltz, 1989; McCarty, 1986; Rosencrans, 1997; Syed & Williams, 1999; Johansson-Love & Fremouw, 2006; National Center for Injury 1996) and that women perpetrators have often experienced severe Prevention and