Rape by Women
Occurrence
Although it is not commonly reported, or even discussed, females commit a significant number of rapes. It has been estimated that around 10,000 rapes committed each year in the United States are perpetrated by women. In fact, many experts believe that this number is an under representation, due to the fact that female rapes are very rarely reported.
Characteristics
Victims of female rape are usually older, weaker, or handicapped. Frequently, female rapists use objects to sodomize, rape, and overpower their victims. However, most females accused of rape are accomplices to male rapists and do not physically violate the victim.
Children are the most frequent victims of female rape. This usually takes form in statutory rape, or sexual intercourse between an adult woman and a consenting minor. Studies have shown that women involved in these relations are frequently seeking a substitute lover because they are alone, have a low self-worth, or are in a bad or violent relationship. Female rape of children can also take the form of incest or child molestation. In both of these cases, victims are not likely to come forward because the perpetrator is female.
Why Women Rape
Studies have shown that female rapists are driven by the same forces as their male counterparts: power, hostility, violence, alcohol or drug abuse, mental illness, and opportunity. Many female rapists were themselves victims of rape, incest or molestation at some point in life. Also, female accomplices to male rapists are commonly forced by threat of bodily harm to help in the perpetration of the crime.
Male Victims of Female Rape
Female rapes of men go largely unreported by male victims, and few men seek counseling or support. Men who do talk about their experience show similar effects as female victims of rape: loss of self-esteem, self-blame, fear of intimacy, and depression. Because many states do not include women in their rape statutes, female rapists go largely unpunished. Men are also discouraged from bringing female rapists to trial for fear that a judge or jury will not believe their story.