After an unprecedented increase in child abuse material offending being reported to authorities, five Australian women have spoken out about their own abuse while living with offenders.
Stereotypes point to offenders as single men with no interest in or capability for adult relationships, but research shows two thirds of offenders in treatment have partners and half have at least one child.
For the first time, three Australian researchers have examined the crossover between offenders who use child abuse material, and intimate partner and family violence, in a paper for the Australian Institute of Criminology.
They interviewed 10 women, five in Australia and the rest from New Zealand, the United States and United Kingdom, who were recruited via methods including a social media call-out.
Nine of the women experienced domestic abuse or coercive control at the hands of their former partners.
The researchers highlighted the importance of women being taken seriously when they raise concerns, including about obsessive or extensive consumption of pornography, which is one of the earliest warning signs.
Two of the women in the study had sought help from professionals but were not supported, the group led by Dr Michael Salter from the University of NSW found.
One woman, known as Alice, had contacted a paediatrician and child protection services after finding a naked picture of their infant daughter on her then-partner's computer.
He told her she was overreacting and it was just a "cute" picture.
Authorities concluded her suspicions were unfounded but three years later he was charged with sexually abusing the little girl and producing child sexual abuse material of her.
Another woman, Zoe, sent her partner to a psychiatrist after seeing his inappropriate behaviour around young girls and finding suspicious material on his computer.
He was diagnosed with an internet addiction, but not identified as an offender.
The study was able to divide male offenders into three categories.
The first was someone who was not violent or controlling, but who was secretive with his offending and dishonest with his partner.
Most of the eight professionals also interviewed for the study described coercive controlling behaviour that was subtle and difficult to identify as the most common overlap between child abuse material use and family violence.
Offending partners set up strict routines and regulated household tasks so they could know when they were "safe" to do what they wanted, one professional said.
One of the women, known as Alice, said her partner had demanded a perfect house and family despite putting in very little effort himself.
Those, like Alice's partner, fell into a second group of offenders who used child abuse material as part of a broader pattern of violence and abuse.
Their mistreatment of women reflected a broader pattern of misogyny and self-entitlement.
The third type was a predatory offender who sought adult relationships as a cover for child sexual abuse and other deviancy.
One woman said her partner admitted after his arrest that he had married her for "cover", while a service provider interviewed by the authorities said the grooming of single mothers on dating apps was an emerging issue.
She recalled one woman who was groomed into a relationship by a predator only to discover he was interested in her young daughters, not her.
The authors acknowledged the limitations of the small sample size in the study and have called for further research involving LGBTQI and non-white participants.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
