Two independent surveys from opposite ends of the globe, the UK and New Zealand, completed by families which include a family member accused of sexually abusing a child, have produced remarkably similar results. The majority of accusations were made by welleducated white women about their biological fathers and/or their mothers, based upon memories often recovered within a therapeutic context, many years after the incidents were supposed to have taken place. Accusations included disproportionately high rates of rape, bizarre sexual behaviours and satanic ritual abuse in both surveys.
We have reviewed the results of Accusations by adults of childhood sexual abuse: a survey of the members of the British False Memory Society (BFMS) with great interest. We recently conducted a similar survey, also based on the American FMS Foundation survey but modified for use by a New Zealand population. Families were surveyed where there had been an accusation of sexual abuse by one family member against another; the accusation was based on recovered memories and was denied by the alleged perpetrator and/or other family members. Our sample therefore differed from the British in that the latter included cases that were not known to be recovered memories, and cases of accusations not involving sexual abuse. Futhermore, ours was not a survey of a False Memory Society. Subjects were self-selected in response to advertisements placed by the primary researcher (FG-S) and those who had already made contact with her. The respondents were therefore a `convenience' sample. There was no attempt to independently determine whether the alleged abuse had or had not taken place.
There are a large number of variables in these questionnaires, and it is beyond the scope of this commentary to engage in a detailed comparison of our findings, which are to be found in our paper Parents and Other Relatives Accused of Sexual Abuse on the Basis of Recovered Memories: A New Zealand Family Survey currently under review for publication. We have however identified a few of the more salient points for discussion.