perpetrators

 Who are the Perpetrators?

Perpetrators can be anyone including family members, family friends, coaches, teachers, clergy, babysitters, and any other acquaintances.

THEY CAN BE ANY AGE, RACE, GENDER, RELIGIOUS BELIEF,

SEXUAL ORIENTATION, EDUCATION LEVEL, FINANCIAL STATUS.

How do Perpetrators manipulate children and families?

• Perpetrators are patient! They work to gain trust and friendship of the child and often of the entire family.

• Perpetrators pay attention to what a child likes and dislikes, to find ways to interact with the child.

• Perpetrators find ways to be alone with the child.

• Perpetrators often “test” a child’s ability to protect himself/herself by engaging in touching activities such as hugs and kisses, back rubs, horseplay, etc.

• Perpetrators take advantage of a child’s natural curiosity. If a child seems comfortable and/or curious about touching, then slowly increases the sexual contact.

Why do only 16% of child victims

Risk Factors forSexual Violence Perpetration

Research has demonstrated that there are several factors that place a person at heightened risk of becoming a perpetrator of sexual violence, such as a sex trafficker. These factors range from individual experiences, to factors at the community and societal level. These risk factors generally stem from a presence of instability and chaos in the individual’s everyday environment. Such risk factors are listed below, as well as some protective factors that could serve to buffer against the presence of the following risk factors. It is important to note these risk factors when working with students who may experience one, or maybe several, of these items. It is imperative to build as many protective factors as possible for working with students at risk, in order to strengthen his/her support system.

Individual Risk Factors

• Alcohol and drug use
• Delinquency
• Empathic deficits
• General aggressiveness and acceptance of violence
• Early sexual initiation
• Coercive sexual fantasies
• Preference for impersonal sex and sexual-risk taking
• Exposure to sexually explicit media
• Hostility towards women
• Adherence to traditional gender role norms
• Hyper-masculinity
• Suicidal behavior
• Prior sexual victimization or perpetration

Relationship Factors

• Family environment characterized by physical violence and conflict
• Childhood history of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse
• Emotionally unsupportive family environment
• Poor parent-child relationships, particularly with fathers
• Association with sexually aggressive, hypermasculine, and delinquent peers
• Involvement in a violent or abusive intimate relationship

Community Factors

• Poverty
• Lack of employment opportunities
• Lack of institutional support from police and judicial system
• General tolerance of sexual violence within the community
• Weak community sanctions against sexual violence perpetrators

Societal Factors

• Societal norms that support sexual violence
• Societal norms that support male superiority and sexual entitlement
• Societal norms that maintain women’s inferiority and sexual submissiveness
• Weak laws and policies related to sexual violence and gender equity
• High levels of crime and other forms of violence