"It's a Slippery Slope": Antecedents of Female-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse of Adolescents in Australian Educational Settings
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Harris, Danielle A
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
Sexual victimization of students endures—especially in secondary schools—and women’s perpetration in this setting is increasingly recognized. Nonetheless, our understanding of this population and contemporary cases remains limited, and research in the Australian context is lacking. This study contributes to the evidence base and represents the first Australian study of its kind. We draw on (1) legal documents (N = 19) describing 18 established cases of female-perpetrated sexual abuse against 20 adolescent students (aged 13–17 inclusive) and (2) semi-structured expert interviews with professionals possessing specialized experience of female-perpetrated cases involving adolescent students (N = 8). These data are integrated in a reflexive thematic analysis to identify the personal, contextual, and situational antecedents of female-perpetrated cases thereby exploring the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of their perpetration. Taken together, the results indicate a key interaction between individual emotional and relational needs, environmental opportunities, and contextual tolerance. Practical implications for targeting and disrupting these dynamics are discussed.
Journal Title
Sexual Abuse
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
37
Issue
2
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Robertson, AL; Harris, DA, "It's a Slippery Slope": Antecedents of Female-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse of Adolescents in Australian Educational Settings, Sexual Abuse, 2025, 37 (2), pp. 215-247