Female sexual offenders: A special subgroup

Franca Cortoni

Women who sexually offend constitute a small yet significant proportion of all sexual offenders. In recent years, increased empirical attention has revealed a number of gender-specific issues related to female offending. As such, female sexual offenders require gender-informed assessment, treatment, and management practices. This presentation will review our current knowledge on female sexual offenders, discuss implications for their assessment and treatment, and identify directions for future research.

Franca Cortoni is a clinical forensic psychologist and professor of clinical criminology at the School of Criminology at the Université de Montréal. Her research interests include factors associated with the development of sexual offending behavior, risk assessment and treatment of both male and female sexual offenders. Her latest book focuses on the assessment, treatment, and management of women who have sexually offended.