Research finds girls make up majority of women-perpetrated sexual offences in Qld

Up to 84 per cent of female-perpetrated sexual offences in Queensland are committed by girls aged 10 to 17, a new report reveals. And researchers think they know why.

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An “alarming” number of sexual offences are perpetrated by girls under 18, according to new research from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

The report found that females aged 10 to 17 years made up 84 per cent of women-perpetrated sexual offences in Queensland.

Whilst males are responsible for most sexual offences in Queensland, UniSC researchers were “alarmed” at the high prevalence of young women involved in online sexual abuse material offences.

Females aged 17 and under were found to be 20 times more likely to commit an online child sexual abuse material offence than adult women.

Researcher Dr Lara Christensen said the findings were likely linked to Queensland’s laws

around under-age sexting.

“More research needs to be done but we imagine that some of that material from young women is self-generated” she said.

“A lot of kids don’t realise that if they were to take a photograph of themselves on their iPhone and it’s a ‘nude pic’, they are unknowingly possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material.”

Under Queensland’s Child Exploitation Material legislation anyone under 16 taking or sharing sexually explicit photos is committing a child sexual abuse material offence.

Queensland Police however have the option to not lay charges, depending on a range of factors including the nature of the relationship between participants.

Dr Christensen said “education programs at school and within the home” were necessary.

“There are parents who don’t actually realise that a child just having a nude photo of themselves on their phone is possessing child sexual abuse material,” said Dr Christensen.

“Prevention is key. This involves education within the home, but it is also about continuing prevention efforts at the school-level, right through to involving communities, tech companies, and so on”.

The full study ‘Females’ Engagement in Offline and Online Sexual Offending and Their Interactions With the Criminal Justice System: A Gender and Age Comparison’ can be found on the University of the Sunshine Coast’s website.

Originally published as Research finds girls make up majority of women-perpetrated sexual offences in Qld