A third of all online paedophiles could be female – report

One in three online paedophiles may be female, according to a report.

A team of academics at the University of Huddersfield were commissioned by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse to conduct a review of the existing literature to help quantify the extent of online child sexual abuse.

A major find was that more women than previously thought are committing offences such as online grooming. The 184-page report states “the findings from self-report studies examining online sexual requests and grooming show that a sizeable minority of perpetrators, between a quarter and a third, are female”.

It added: “While the self-report surveys that have identified this gender composition have not been conducted in the UK, if applied to the UK these findings have significant implications for interventions and treatment of perpetrators.”