New report shows: Female perpetrators of children more common than many believe

It is still not integrated into the social picture that women can commit sexual abuse on children, but the assumption is that perpetrators are always men.

This is one of the results of the research report presented today by Ecpat Sweden.

The organization has commissioned the report in light of the increase in the number of female offenders in recent years among the tips sent to the organization's hotline.

- We believe the increase is due to an increasing number of perpetrators, both women and men, documenting the abuses today. The tips we often get are about someone finding abusive material on the internet, says Anna Karin Hildningson Boqvist, secretary general of Ecpat Sweden.

The research report presents international figures showing that about 1.5 to 4 percent of the population has been sexually abused by a woman when they were children.

"It's all about rape and serious sexual abuse to offenders," says Anna Karin Hildningson Boqvist.

- There are various motives for the abuses. It can be about a sexual interest in children, financial interests or the woman committing the abuse with a man, she says.

Anna Karin Hildningson Boqvist says that men are behind a majority of all abuses, but that the dark figure around abuses committed by women is large.

- We need more knowledge from children and young people themselves. They often don't tell adults about the abuse, she says.

Research on women's abuse of children is limited but shows that the consequences for the child often become as serious as when the perpetrator is a man. The victim is not often affected by mental ill health and can find it difficult to form relationships.

- We want to create an understanding that a perpetrator can be anyone and that they are where children are. If we broaden our conversation about sexual abuse against children, it works preventively, says Anna Karin Hildningson Boqvist.