Nadine McKillop

New research released by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) confirms what many Australians may already feel: trust in police is declining.

BOSCAR has been surveying NSW residents since 2007 and in releasing the 2026 data, the organisation states:

Confidence in the NSW criminal justice system has declined significantly since 2019 across all measures, and is at the lowest levels since BOCSAR’s survey began in 2007.

This comes just months after a 2026 Australian Productivity Commission report found perceptions of fair and equal treatment by police has declined more than 20% in the past decade.

So why is this happening, and why does it matter?

Child sexual abuse cases involving female perpetrators are confronting and distressing. When these cases make the news, they often provoke shock and outrage.

The involvement of women and girls in child sexual abuse cases has historically been underestimated and under-recognised.

Yet, in the United States, approximately 7.6% of confirmed cases are perpetrated by women or girls, though some US states report it to be as high as 36%.

In Australia, recorded sexual assault offences involving women and girls have increased from 222 offenders in 2008–09 to 678 in 2023–24: a 205% rise.

Public attention has long focused on male perpetrators and on what happens after abuse is uncovered (including prosecution and punishment or cases not proceeding to court).

Prevention, however, requires us to act earlier and to ask a different question: what might have prevented these women from sexually abusing a child in the first place?

There are many social issues enabled by social media, including sexting, the creation of and access to child sexual abuse material and cyber bullying.

Concerningly, research has found more than one-third of young Australian women (aged 14–17 years) have sent, or have asked or been asked to show or share nude (or nearly nude) images or videos.

What the public might not realise is that young people who take or share videos or images of themselves are unknowingly possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

Sexual offending perpetrated by females is probably much more common than people think.

In Australia, we have seen an almost 208% increase in the number of women in the criminal justice system for sexual offences from 2008 to 2023.

Research in the United States has found that on average, almost 8% of verified cases of sexual abuse across the nation had a female perpetrator. This figure ranges from 1% to more than 36% across the different states.

While women make up a small minority of people who sexually offend, there are minimal offence-specific rehabilitative programs for these women in Australia. To prevent harm to children, this needs to change.