Research Paper on:
"The Long-Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse by Female Perpetrators"

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
A Qualitative Study of Male and Female Victims", an article published in the October 2004 issue of "Journal of Interpersonal Violence" author and researcher Myriam S. Denov reports the  results of a qualitative research study that she conducted using a sample base of fourteen adults (seven women and seven men) that had suffered sexual abuse as a child.  This abuse was distinctive from the typical child sex abuse, however, in that the perpetrator was female in each of the instances. The long term impacts of this abuse  were substantial. Denov (2004) reports that these impacts included problems with "substance abuse, self injury, suicide, depression, rage, ruined relationships with women, self concept and identity issues, and a  discomfort with sex" (Denov, 2004, pg. 1137). Denevs study is qualitative, however, and is lacking in several aspects as they relate to the scientific method.  Denov begins her article with the observation that while there is considerable literature on male-perpetuated child sex abuse there is little that relates to female perpetrators.  She reports that there are many misperceptions in the studies that do exist. An example of a particularly widespread misperception is the belief that abuse perpetuated by women is  harmless in comparison to that perpetuated by men. Denov presents no testable hypothesis but instead approaches her subject from a qualitative perspective, a perspective that utilizes "semistructured interviews" conducted  over a six month period between October 1997 and May 1998 to collect the memories of subjects that suffered abuse at the hands of female perpetrators during their childhood.  A portion of the participants in the study were recruited on the basis of referrals of professionals working in areas involving child sexual abuse. These professionals were made aware