ABSTRACT
Many sexual offenses perpetrated against children by women go unnoticed in our society because women are expected "to engage in a wide range of touching behaviors with children. . . . [W]omen clean children's genitals, breast feed for two to three years, and comfort, caress and cuddle their offspring" (Mayer, 1993, p. 21). Several other authors have commented on this fact, as well (Allen, 1990; Borden & LaTerz, 1993; Finkelhor & Russell, 1984; Roth, 1993). Roth (1993) had this to say:
Women in this society are expected to be nurturant, affectionate, kind, and protective. Mothers are expected to be all these things to the nth degree. The brainwashing is so extensive that "inadequate" mothers feel guilty if they do not behave in all these loving ways, and children defend their inappropriate mothers. (p. 122)
