Many studies have examined the amount of blame adults attribute to perpetrators of CSA depending on various factors including age of the victim, gender of the victim, resistance from the victim, and gender of the perpetrator. Adults are likely to attribute more blame to adolescents than they would to younger children.
Male respondents tend to attribute more of the blame to the victim.
Female respondents did not show a difference relevant to sex of the child and always attributed responsibility to the adult. Respondents believed that male survivors of female perpetration were relatively unharmed by the experience. Specifically, more blame is placed on male adolescents who participate in sexual activity with a female adult. Furthermore, these types of interactions were rated as less harmful to the adolescent boy. The results of these studies indicate that adults' attitudes toward early experiences of sexual adolescents are shaped by beliefs that boys are more socialized to want sex, while girls are socialized to avoid it.