Reports of sexual abuse by women on the increase

Mon Nov 9 2009 14:17:47

The number of children reporting sexual abuse by women to ChildLine has more than doubled over the past five years.

New figures from the charity show a 132 per cent rise in complaints of female sexual assaults to the helpline service, compared with a 27 per cent increase in reports of abuse by men.

More than 2,000 children told ChildLine last year they had been sexually abused by a woman. That was nearly a quarter of all the calls where the offender's gender could be identified.

The disturbing statistics follow the recent high-profile case of nursery worker Vanessa George, who was a member of an internet paedophile ring along with another woman.

Last year ChildLine heard from 1,311 children who said they had been sexually assaulted by their own mother, representing 61 per cent of all calls about abuse by females.

Research for the helpline found that boys were more likely to say they had been abused by a woman (1,722 cases) than by a man (1,651).

In contrast, girls were over 10 times likelier to report being abused by a male (4,972) than by a female (420).

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.