The research focused on whether child protection investigators were as likely to take a case seriously if it had been perpetrated by a female rather than a male, and on whether decisions related to female-perpetrated abuse were predicted by participants' sex-role perceptions of women and their attitudes toward women's sexualized behavior toward children. The participants reviewed vignettes depicting four hypothetical cases of child sexual abuse in which the perpetrator was either male or female. Results revealed that all participant groups considered case registration and imprisonment of the perpetrator more appropriate following male-perpetrated rather than female-perpetrated sexual abuse. Male social workers also considered social services involvement and investigation as more appropriate following male-perpetrated rather than female-perpetrated abuse. In addition, a substantial number of decisions concerning female-perpetrated abuse were predicted by participants' attitudes. Findings suggested that victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by a woman may be less likely to receive protection than victims of male-perpetrated abuse, and that professionals' practices may inadvertently be perpetuating the attitude that child sexual abuse by females is rare or less harmful than abuse carried out by males. Tables and 27 references (Author abstract modified)