What about when MOM is the abuser?

On Monday October 6, 1997 the BBC aired a show called The Sexual Abuse by Women of Children and Teenagers. I wanted to post complete transcripts of the show and will do so in pieces. Be warned that some of the content can be disturbing and graphic. Note all the transcripts can be found by clicking on the category Transcripts on the right side of the blog.



Warning: This programme contains explicit descriptions of attacks and the emotional and physical damage they have caused, which some viewers may find distressing.



Narrator: The sexual abuse of children by women was once thought to be so rare it could be ignored. Today the victims tell a different story.

Woman: You knew when my mum was being really nice, you knew something was going to happen - you were going to get raped.

Man: Imagine your worst nightmare come true. It probably doesn't even come close to it.

Narrator: Tonight Panorama reveals how the scale and nature of this sexual taboo has been severely underestimated.

Boy: We used to play football together, go for walks, we were just friends.




Cheryl:

Narrator:
Cheryl's friend was just a 12 year old schoolboy. She was 19. Walking with him one evening she committed such a serious act of sexual indecency she went to prison for it.

Cheryl:
So I says to him, I says, we'll walk the field way. So we started walking the field way and I sat down; he sat down. I pushed him back, pulled his trousers down, pulled mine down, then I had sexual intercourse with him ... until someone was walking past with a dog.

Interviewer:
And how long did this assault go on for?

Cheryl:
About 15 minutes

Interviewer:
Why did you do it in the first place?

Cheryl:
'Cause I were feeling aroused. He was crying, shouting for his mum, he wanted to go home.

Interviewer:
And what did you think when you saw him crying?

Cheryl:
At that time I couldn't think straight, so I just carried on.

Narrator:
After she had raped the child, Cheryl realised that as a woman who had abused, she had broken one of society's most serious taboos. She marched him to a railway bridge, believing there was only one option left to her.

Cheryl:
Then I looked round to see if anything were coming.. such as transport, and there was nothing and I just pushed him over. I were thinking what have I done wrong?

Interviewer:
Why did you push him?

Cheryl:
Trying to frighten him - scare him so he wouldn't tell what happened.

Interviewer:
You could have killed him. Did you know that when you pushed him?

Cheryl:
Yes

Narrator:
The boy survived his fall from the bridge. Cheryl was sentenced to 18 months for indecent assault and grievous bodily harm.

Narrator:
Sexual abuse by anyone is appalling, but when the perpetrator is a woman the crime seems so unnatural it offends against all instincts. It's thought that 10% of the population are abused as children; it is hard to accept that some of their tormentors are women

Jacqui Saradjiam: (clinical psychologist)
I think people find it so difficult to see that women sexually abuse children because the whole view of women is of nurturers, carers, protectors - people who do anything to look after children - and they see the women as victims rather than enemies or perpetrators of any abuse.

Michelle Elliott: (Director - children's charity Kidscape)
I think the issue strikes at the core of what we perceive ourselves as women to be. I think that it's easier to think that it's men - men the enemy, somehow - but it can't be women - it's one thing women can't do. Women can be equal, we can be free, we can be in charge of companies, but we can't sexually abuse children - That's a load of rubbish.