Subjective causes of SIC
A total of 86 per cent answered the question on the assumed cause of their SIC. Table 2 shows all response categories and how often they occurred. The largest category consists of assumed causes that lie in the participants’ own childhood or at least in their past. For example, the answer
“Because of my own trauma history.”
was categorized as own victimization. This subjective estimation adds to environmental theories among researchers claiming that SIC develops in the course of a social learning process (e.g., Freund & Kuban, 1994). It is assumed that individuals who were sexually abused during their childhood become sexually attracted to children during adulthood and may have the desire to sexually offend against children because they repeat the abuse they experienced as children. In fact, self-experienced sexual abuse is more common among individuals with SIC than among others (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2022). Some participants reported non-abusive sexual experiences as the reason for their SIC. For example, one participant referred to her past sexual experiences with her younger brother that helped both of them to survive sexual abuse:
“With my little brother I had a wonderful innocent tendered love and sexual relationship that helped us and strengthened us for the world to survive against sexual abuse, school anxiety, bullying…”
Another participant described jointly masturbation with her older sister as the reason for her SIC stating that this experience is the most intense and most positive memory of her childhood. She further explained that a few years later she did the same with her younger cousin and then with the little sister of a friend. She was sexually aroused by the fact that she acted as a kind of teacher showing the younger girls how their body works. Finally she stated:
“…that pattern remained although I grew older. You cannot tell a 20-year old how their body functions.”
These responses are in line with considerations grounded on learning theories assuming that during first sexual experiences with children of the same age there might be a conditioned coupling of previously neutral stimuli (e.g., a child's body schema) with unconditioned sexual satisfaction which causes a SIC (Laws & Marshall, 1990). Some participants specified that their SIC is a disposition, e.g.:
“I was born with it.”
which fits the assumption that a genetic component has an influence on the development of sexual interest and masturbation fantasies. In fact, Alanko et al. (2013) reported that among participants with a SIC a non-additive genetic component could explain 14.6% of the total variance in the data. In contrast, environmental influences that were not shared by the twins explained 85.4% of the total variance indicating that the environment has a greater influence on SIC then genes (Alanko et al., 2013). Some participants of the present study mentioned more than one reason for their SIC, e.g.:
“I think that the major cause is disposition… Eventually the emotional abuse and mental violence during my childhood contributed to the anchoring of the preference during puberty because I felt emotionally closer to children and I partly still do today.”
This participant reported both a biological disposition and past experiences causing her SIC and additionally addressed an emotional affiliation with children. Such features remind of the concept of emotional congruence with children which is associated with an exaggerated cognitive and emotional affiliation with childhood, child-like characteristics, strong non-sexual liking of children, and positive views of children and childhood (Finkelhor, 1984). It has been shown that emotional congruence with children is related to pedophilic interest and sexual recidivism risk among men who sexually offended against children (McPhail et al., 2018). Future research should find out to what degree the concept of emotional congruence with children is also important in women with SIC.
Ten participants answered that they had no idea why they have a SIC.
Experiences with disclosure
A total of 56 per cent disclosed to another person and answered the question on the reactions to their disclosure (table 3). Most participants reported positive reactions after disclosing. Both results are in line with those by Wagner et al. (2016) who reported that about half of their male sample directly disclosed to another person which was rather associated with positive consequences, such as social acceptance. On the one hand, it might be that people rather react positive to a known person who admits to be sexually interest in children. This would imply that individuals with SIC should be encouraged to open up to the people around them in order to overcome the feeling of isolation. On the other hand, and more likely, individuals with SIC may anticipate how the people around them will react and obviously rather disclose to people whose reaction are expectedly positive. One participant answered:
“Reactions have been uniformly positive and supportive. I am careful about who I confide in.”
This response not only shows that the women made positive experiences with her disclosure but also reflects that she saw the need of being aware who she tells about her SIC. As society overestimates the relation between SIC and sexual offending against children, individuals with SIC are generally seen as dangerous (Jahnke et al., 2018). The stereotype of dangerousness is strongly connected to desires to punish or to avoid the individual with SIC. As a consequence, individuals with SIC fear the disclosure of their SIC and make efforts to cover it up since they are afraid of negative social consequences (Jahnke et al., 2018). It can be assumed that individuals with SIC anticipate negative reactions and thus decide to not disclose. Some participants reported that the other person agreed with the SIC:
“My partner is pedophilic himself and therefore reacted calmly.”
Few participants mentioned negative reactions of the other person, e.g.:
“Mother cried and was speechless. Asked many questions. Said she would feel shame and disgust…”
This woman further revealed that her mother later searched for information on the internet regarding a prevention program where the women participated. Her brother also reacted with speechlessness and expressed his need for communication with another person:
“…Brother …asked me for permission to speak with a trusted person.”
Three participants reported that the person they disclosed to showed disbelief, e.g.:
“Restrained, I was only taken seriously to a limited degree. I have a husband and an active sex life. It has to be imagination.”
It can be assumed that people generally think that SIC is a male phenomenon. Thus, when a women mentions having a SIC people tend to minimize that statement and do not take the women seriously. The six women with SIC that were interviewed by Lievesley and Lapworth (2022) claimed that women with SIC are a ‘minority within a minority’. They felt overlooked in social discussions about SIC as people do not recognize that women with SIC exist. Furthermore, it seem to be common for women with SIC to have an adult partner and a sex life as most women with SIC also have a sexual interest in adults and also report being in a relationship with an adult (Tozdan et al., 2021). Two participants stated that the person they disclosed to responded by contact termination, e.g.:
“Frightened in the first instance – she sealed herself off and did not want to have contact for a while (3 month)…“
Negative social consequences after disclosing that one is sexually attracted to children, such as social ostracism, can lead to more emotional and social problems which may in turn even increase the risk of offending against children (Jahnke et al., 2015). The participant further described that later she was able to explain everything to the person and that they became friends. However, the narrative indicates that she experiences the three month of non-contact as negative before she became friend with the other person. It appears to be relevant to investigate the long-term effects of negative consequences after disclosing that one has a SIC among females.
Reasons for non-disclosure
A total of 44 per cent of participants stated that they did not disclose to anyone mainly due to the fear of certain consequences (table 4). This confirms research on stigma in individuals with SIC mentioned above (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2018). One participant specified her fear as follows:
“Fear of getting stigmatized and ostracized; and of police investigations, although I have never done anything. It could harm my family when others know. I do not want to be bullied or to get physically attacked.”
Similar to our participants, the women examined by Lievesley and Lapworth (2022) indicated that they perceive risks associated with disclosure of their SIC. The authors refer to the possible consequences of internalizing a social stigma that can be observed in sexual minority adults including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidality (e.g., Heiden-Rootes et al., 2020). It can be presumed that such consequences may be also relevant for women with SIC. In line, 40 per cent of our participants reported that they have been diagnosed with a mental illness and mainly specified that it was the diagnosis depression. Another participant described her fear of rejection of her best friend:
“I could never talk about it to anyone, not even to my best friend, because I have great fear that she finds me repulsive or that I cannot see her anymore.”
Two participants named shame as the reason for their non-disclosure which in one case seems to be related to the stigmatization of SIC:
“I feel ashamed to admit this to a trusted person. After all, it is a delicate and stigmatized topic.”
Another participant claimed no need for disclosure of her SIC by writing:
„ I don't want to, it's private, like my sexuality (bisexual)…”
She further explained that a disclosure would have negative consequences:
“…And I know it would be very dangerous, and they would never accept it.”
This indicates that her shame may be based on her fear of negative consequences. Of course, non-disclosure can protect affected individuals from stigma and discrimination. However, concealing can also make it difficult to find social support (Camacho et al., 2020) and may lead to isolation and loneliness in women with SIC (Lievesley & Lapworth, 2022). Therefore, women with SIC should be encouraged to disclose to persons they trust and/or to professionals as most women in the present study experienced positive consequences from doing so. Nevertheless, our results also demonstrated that there are risks associated with the disclosure of SIC. Additionally, research has proven that people in general wish to punish or to avoid individuals with SIC (Jahnke et al., 2018). Ultimately, there probably is no general rule in terms of disclosure of SIC. Affected women need to make an individual decision and at best, they are supported by professionals who have experience in treating individuals with SIC.
Two participants indicated that they had no idea why they do not disclose to another person.
Experiences with professional help
A total of 30 per cent of participants reported having sought help due to their SIC and most experiences with professional help appear to be negative (table 5). This result is in line with research showing men with SIC mostly report negative consequences (e.g., inappropriate treatment methods and stigmatization) when they disclose to general professionals in the health care system (Wagner et al., 2016). Many participants in the present study reported that the professionals were not helpful. Some participants described that the professionals’ reaction included disbelief, e.g.:
“They try to convince me it's a phase.”
This result indicates that there are professionals in the health care system who think that SIC cannot exist in females. Obviously there has to be more information among professionals regarding SIC in women. At least, SIC contributes to child sexual abuse (Ward & Beech, 2006) and has been proven to be one of the most important risk factors for sexual recidivism among men (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005). Thus, in terms of preventing child sexual abuse, women with SIC should be taken seriously by every professional in the health care system. One participant also mentioned that she felt her therapist was disgusted:
“My outpatient therapist was not a big help to me. She condoned the topic but we hardly talked about it. During the last session, I felt like I could grab her disgust.”
In another context she even experienced rejection by the health care system:
“When I brought up the topic during a hospital stay, they had a team meeting discussing whether it is still possible that I was further treated on that ward.”
This outlines how important it is that general professionals in the health care system are well educated concerning SIC. As they are part of the society they may also believe that people with SIC automatically conduct child sexual abuse and cannot imagine that part of them decide to not act on their sexual interest in children. However, the same participant also reported positive experiences with professionals in other contexts:
„The psychologist at my last hospital stay was very calm and never seemed to be disgusted or emotional; I could talk about it to her without having the feeling to be judged.”
This participant highlighted that she did felt no judgment due to her SIC indicating that she felt accepted. Since SIC is a highly stigmatized topic (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2018), it seems plausible that the feeling of being accepted and not judged may be of high importance when treating individuals with SIC. A further participant mentioned:
“Good: I am not alone.”
This quote indicates that the good experience of this participant was that she felt not alone. Similar to acceptance, the feeling of not being alone may be highly relevant in the treatment of women with SIC as they possibly carry a sense of isolation and loneliness (Lievesley & Lapworth, 2022).
We consider the consequences these experiences – either positive or negative – may have on the individual course of women with SIC to be relevant. It seems at least reasonable that the women in the present study who made negative experiences possibly tend to avoid further contacts to professionals regarding their SIC. This may increase their risk of sexual offences against children. Simultaneously, positive experiences may encourage women with SIC to stay in treatment which might be a protective factor against child sexual abuse. Future research should address the question which impact such experiences can have on women with SIC and on their possible risk to sexually abuse children.
Suggestions for how to reach women with SIC
A total of 78 per cent of participants answered the question on how to reach women with SIC who are in need of professional help (table 6) indicating that the stigmatization of individuals with SIC appears to be the biggest barrier for reaching women with SIC. In addition to the destigmatization, some also mentioned the assurance of anonymity as important, e.g.:
“Internet, anonymously, without stigmatization and fear of punishment.”
Based on our results, it appears that women with SIC struggle with the same problems as men with SIC regarding stigmatization (Jahnke et al., 2018) and fear of negative consequences (Wagner et al., 2016). Some participants also stated that there need to be more aware that women with SIC exist, e.g.:
„First of all there is a need for more enlightenment regarding this topic. In people’s minds men are still the ones that have a sexual interest in children/adolescents…”
She further explained that females might already be reached at school when they are adolescents who eventually develop a SIC. The students should be enlightened about prevention programs so that they know where the find help in the future. The participant added that special treatment programs for women with SIC are necessary:
„…An additional program would make sense addressing women. I think men and women should not be mixed up here.”
Another participant underlined the importance of supportive therapists referring again to the negative experiences she made during her last treatment:
“…I wish therapists understood that the best thing for everyone is to actually be supportive instead of abusive. I’m seriously hurting about this last therapist I trusted.”
Our results clearly show that women with SIC appear to be aware of the social stigma that surrounds pedophilia. Many females in the present study clearly mentioned the need for de-stigmatization of people with SIC. They consider a feeling of acceptance relevant in order to reach women with SIC to offer help and partly highlight that special treatment program for women should be implemented. It seems to be necessary to raise awareness for this topic among the general public and targeted professional groups.
At least five participants claimed that the legalization of sexual contacts with children would help women with SIC, e.g.:
„Tenderness and consensual sex and motherly love should be decriminalize, that would be better for all and a better protection for children of exploitative and violent sexual relationships.”
This participant described her relationship with her daughter as more intimate then the relationship to her husband. It might be assumed that she conduct sexual acts with her daughter as she seems to be convinced that “consensual sex and motherly love” with children is supposed to protect children from sexual violence. This raises the question whether cognitive distortions found in men regarding sexual acts with children also are relevant in women with SIC. Future research needs to address this question since cognitive distortions are demonstrated to be a risk factor for recidivism in men who sexually abused children (Mann et al., 2010).
Nine participants specified that they had no idea how to reach women with SIC.
Limitations
The major limitation of the present study is that the sample is small and not representative. Moreover, ten participants entered the study via the English study link. The English version of the study was translated by someone whose first language is English from a translation company. The translation and cultural adaptation of a questionnaire should include a forward-backward translation by qualified translators as well as subsequent validation and harmonization processes. In addition, one participant entered the survey via a German study link, but appears to be not German-speaking. Free text fields showed that this participant answered in English. However, the response pattern of this participant was fully comprehensible and consistent. We were additionally not able to identify and exclude females with obsessive–compulsive disorder including obsessions related to children that do not indicate a SIC in the sense of pedophilia (Bruce, Ching, & Williams, 2018). At least, two participants reported that they were given the diagnosis obsessive compulsive behaviour during their life time. In summary, the validity and generalizability of the present results are therefore limited.