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'''Pedophilia''' ([[American English]]), '''pædophilia'''/'''paedophilia''' ([[Commonwealth English]]), or '''pedosexuality''' is the [[paraphilia]] of being [[sexual attraction|sexually attracted]] primarily or exclusively to [[prepubescent]] [[child|children]]. The [[International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems|ICD-10]] (F65.4) defines it as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age." The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''paidophilia'' (παιδοφιλια)—''pais'' (παις, "boy, child") and ''philia'' (φιλια, "friendship"). |
'''Pedophilia''' ([[American English]]), '''pædophilia'''/'''paedophilia''' ([[Commonwealth English]]), or '''pedosexuality''' is the [[paraphilia]] of being [[sexual attraction|sexually attracted]] primarily or exclusively to [[prepubescent]] [[child|children]]. The [[International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems|ICD-10]] (F65.4) defines it as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age." The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''paidophilia'' (παιδοφιλια)—''pais'' (παις, "boy, child") and ''philia'' (φιλια, "friendship"). |
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Revision as of 06:15, 22 August 2005
This girl is hot!!!!!!!!!
Pedophilia (American English), pædophilia/paedophilia (Commonwealth English), or pedosexuality is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent children. The ICD-10 (F65.4) defines it as "a sexual preference for children, boys or girls or both, usually of prepubertal or early pubertal age." The word comes from the Greek paidophilia (παιδοφιλια)—pais (παις, "boy, child") and philia (φιλια, "friendship").
Pedophile is sometimes used informally — and incorrectly — to describe child pornographers or people who have commited sexual crimes against children.
In the United States and some other countries, the term is also sometimes erroneously used to describe people attracted to adolescents, and usually reflects the age at which a minor becomes an adult legally—especially in regards to sexual activies. In cultures or countries where love relationships or dates between adults and adolescents are socially or legally accepted (at least with parental consent) or are viewed with tolerance, such as Brazil, the word pedophilia is almost never used in this sense, neither formally or informally. [dubious – discuss]
In most countries, adolescents above a certain age can be legally emancipated through marriage, economic self-sufficiency, pregnancy or by other means. The marriageable age is generally below the age of majority and in some cases below the legal age of consent. Having sexual relations with emancipated minors is not considered pedophilia.
Definitions
The term paedophilia erotica was coined in 1896 by the Vienna psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his writing Psychopathia Sexualis. He gives the following characteristics:
- the sexual interest is toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty
- the sexual interest is the primary one, that is, exclusively or mainly toward children
- the sexual interest remains over time
Some other definitions of pedophilia require an age difference of at least five years. These, however, may overlook the tendency of pedophilic sexual inclination to develop during puberty or childhood[1]. Some sexologists such as Dr. John Money assert that not only adults but also postpubescent adolescents may qualify as pedophiles.
Some individuals assert sexual attraction to children to be a sexual orientation in itself. This is at odds with the current acceptance that the term sexual orientation only subsumes attraction to one's own sex, the opposite sex, or both. The proponents of such a view point out that homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality are not normally associated with attraction to children and that children are physically and mentally different enough from adults to warrant categorising attraction toward them as a completely different sexual orientation.
Strictly speaking, a person is not necessarily a pedophile simply because he or she is sexually aroused by children; rather, a pedophile is defined as someone whose primary sexual attraction is toward children. In most cases, however, pedophilia is used in a looser sense to describe anyone found to be sexually aroused by children and is often diagnosed solely in the presence of fantasies or sexual urges on the subject's part—it need not involve sexual acts with children. In this regard, there is evidence that at least a quarter of all adult men may have feelings of sexual arousal in connection with children[2].
The APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition, Text Revision has in its "Diagnostic criteria for 302.2 Pedophilia":
- Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
- The person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
- The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A.
- Note: Do not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12 or 13-year-old.
The actual boundaries between childhood and adolescence may vary in individual cases and are difficult to define in rigid terms of age. The World Health Organization, for instance, defines adolescence as the period of life between 10 and 20 years of age, though it is most often defined as the period of life between the ages of 13 and 18.
Pedophiles sometimes refer to themselves as boylovers or girllovers to provide a distinction between what gender they are attracted to (many are not attracted to both); collectively, they are sometimes generalised as "childlovers." The term childlover, however, is considered offensive to some who are attracted to adolescents, or attracted to girls and boys undergoing puberty—and therefore the term "minor attracted adult" is sometimes preferred.
Related terms
Child sexual abuse
A perpetrator committing child sexual abuse is commonly (and often, but not always, mistakenly) assumed to be a pedophile, and referred to as such; however, there may often be other motivations, much as adult rape can sometimes have non-sexual reasons. Most perpetrators of child sexual abuse are not primarily interested in children—a fact which has been recognized by law enforcement[3]. They are sometimes referred to as pseudo-pedophilies or situational offenders, whereas pedophiles primarily attracted toward children are called structured pedophiles or fixated pedophiles, as their orientation is fixed by the structure of their personality.
The term pedophile is not used legally, and is not a legal category; an act by a child molester of molesting children is not legally referred to as pedophilia. However, newspapers and other news media frequently make erroneous use of the terms accused pedophile or convicted pedophile in reference to individuals accused or convicted of sexual abuse of children; other strange terms such as "serial pedophilia" have also come into use.
Ephebophilia
Ephebophilia, also known as hebephilia, is the condition in which adults are dependent on the sexual attraction to postpubescent adolescents. Pederasty refers to attraction toward male adolescents. Attraction to female adolescents is sometimes referred to as "Lolita syndrome" or "Lolita Complex" (an equivalent term for males is the uncommon "Shota Complex"). These terms are used in contrast with pedophilia; however pedophilia is sometimes used more broadly in the western world to describe both ephebophilia and attraction to younger children, i.e. any person younger than the legal age of consent.
Sexual desires including youths are common among adults with a heterosexual or homosexual orientation, though their attraction is not specifically to persons that young. Only when it is a specific and exclusive attraction, is it labeled ephebophilia as a sexual condition or orientation. It should also be noted that unlike pedophilia, attraction to adolescents has never been regarded by psychologists as pathological. In fact, it has often been considered normative in some societies, such as those in which adolescent girls have been married to adult men. Nonetheless, it is often illegal for adults to act on an attraction to adolescents below a certain age, and such activity is disapproved of in many societies.
Nepiophilia
Some researchers have suggested a distinction between pedophilia and nepiophilia—that is, the attraction to very young children in the age range of 0-3, because the difference between these two preferences seems quite large. It is unusual for pedophiles to prefer toddlers.
Cultural norms
Historically, in Western societies, sex was considered a privilege of marriage, and marriage was allowed as long as there was parental consent. It was fairly common for adolescent and in some cases prepubescent females to marry adult men, and it is hard to believe that sexual activity was absent in all cases. Changes in the reason for marriage from improving social status to love, along with child advocacy during the industrial revolution led to laws preventing this in most places.
Western societies have also, until the 20th century, considered attraction to the body of prepubescents as acceptable, as evidenced by acceptance of artwork involving nude and erotic depictions of children (for example: Lewis Carroll). During the 20th century, attempts were made (sometimes successfully) to destroy such artwork, make it illegal, or remove it from public libraries. Though such artwork can sometimes be considered legal, social pressure has prevented creating new forms of such artwork and ownership of such artwork.
In the early 20th century Western society, discussing sex with one's children was frowned upon. This was likely brought on by the Victorian age. This led to many adults not being completely prepared for sexual intercourse, or having misinformation. As a result, sexual education became commonplace in schools in the second half of the 20th century. Sexual education has been criticized, though, to focus too much on abstinence and biology, and not enough on forms of birth control. In general, critics assert that sexual education avoids discussion of ways to enjoy sex, or how to attain mutual pleasure in ways other than vaginal intercourse.
Sex between children and adults was condoned and often encouraged by Polynesians and other cultures, especially matriarchical societies. The reason for this was because these societies revered fertility and motherhood and did not attempt to control sex. Western influence and domination has eroded their open views about sex. Therefore, direct observation is no longer possible, and the only references are older observations made before widespread Western influence.
In Japanese society, the attraction towards teenage girls (high-school students) is a widespread cultural phenomenon. The manifestations of such attraction, such as lolicon art, school uniform fetishes and sexual relations with teenage girls (e.g. enjo kosai) are more tolerated by society than in the West, though child pornography is illegal in Japan.
In France and in most of the Francophone world, relationships between children and adults are usually accepted. Movies like Brodeuses (A common thread) (2003) usually show these relationships in a casual way, not giving much importance or attention to the difference of age. Nabokov's Lolita—the book—was first released in France (in 1955), while Adrian Lyne's 1997 film Lolita faced no restrictions in all of Europe, including France; and Celine Dion's Lolita—the song—was released only in French by the Canadian bilingual singer. The movie Pretty Baby (1978)—depicting 12-year old Brooke Shields playing a preteen prostitute—was filmed by a Frenchman, Louis Malle.
Another society with tolerance for such relationships is Brazil, where ageism or prejuidicial treatment on the grounds of age has been forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution since 1998. In 1999, 28-year old Marcio Garcia, a nationally famous actor, dated 14-year old model Daniella Sarahyba for over a year in which period the relationship was accepted by the Brazilian mainstream media and by the television network which he worked for. Also in the 1990s 13-year old Kelly Key, who would become a famous singer, started dating 23-year old singer Latino, whom she married later on. Before that, in 1982, 40-year-old Caetano Veloso—a famous Brazilian singer and composer—began a relationship with 13-year-old Paula Lavigne, though he was already married at the time. He divorced and married Lavigne 3 years later. Their marriage lasted 19 years, ending only in 2004. The relationship was respected and he was not persecuted by the media or music industry. None were named as pedophiles, an accusation that could be considered as slander in Brazil.
Reactions to adult-adolescent relationships may be considered by some as a prejudice like racism or the hatred against immigrants: ageism. In the 1980s, 15-year-old Brazilian student Eliane Maciel sought for judicial help against her conservative parents. She wanted the judge to rule that she had the right to date a 33-year old man with whom she was in love, and she won. They eventually married. Her drama was told in the 1983 autobiographical best-seller Com licença, eu vou à luta—É ilegal ser menor? ("Excuse me, I'm gonna fight—Is it illegal to be a minor?"), which adapted for a prize-winning 1986 film. It's important to realize that contempt for age differences in relationships is not limited to adult-child relationships. For instance, it is not unusual for a relationship between a 55-year-old and a 25-year-old to be opposed in the West.
In many countries, sexual attraction, desires or fantasies in adults towards underage adolescents is quite common. A sign of this is that, in the adult porn industry, a reasonable market share goes to movies that show young women dressed in uniforms, characterized as high-school students. Some of these movies are regularly aired on popular adult channels like Playboy TV.
Law
Pedophilia itself is not a legal term, as it describes no act. In modern western societies, sexual acts between adults and prepubescent children are usually considered both a taboo and a crime; common reasons given include some of the following:
- children are seen as unable to understand the physical, emotional, and social consequences of sexual acts and are therefore seen as unable to give informed consent;
- sexual acts can, like all relationships, involve coercion and abuse of power, which can break bonds of trust and perhaps "damage" a child;
- belief that children would never agree to engage in sex without coercion, and wouldn't naturally seek it;
- it's often considered unnatural for an adult to engage in sexual activity with a prepubescent because they are unable to reproduce. Yet, evidence for such activity occurs in nature, with the most obvious example being Bonobos. Also, high levels of sexual hormones appear in females well before the onset of menses, and sexual identification (preference towards pheremones of the opposite sex) is scientifically observed to be somewhere between two and four years of age.
- the television, radio, and other media often depict sexual activity as harmful to children and wrong;
- sexual acts can, for girls who have incurred puberty, lead to pregnancy, a condition for which they may be unprepared emotionally and physically;
- belief that individuals shouldn't have sex until marriage (or a fixation on virginity in females), paired with legal prevention of marriage below a certain age; and
- religious or pseudo-religious faith often prevents scientific inquiry, as illustrated when the U.S. Congress voted unanimously to condemn Rind et al.
There are medical reasons that sex (especially for pre-pubescent females) is considered more dangerous for females:
- sexual activity in girls has been linked to irregular pap smears and perhaps even cervical cancer, but lack of true scientific inquiry means that the link is not fully established, nor are preventative measures known. For instance, since this link is considered bacterial-related, it isn't known whether cleansing of objects before being placed into the vaginal canal can prevent this.
- sexual activity in girls has sometimes lead to vaginal tearing, but this can be due to forced sex acts just as it is in adult women who are raped and exhibit vaginal tearing. A girl within a few years of puberty is usually able to accomodate an adult male's penis without tearing, but a girl of a much younger age is much more likely to have tearing occur. Voluntary studies on masturbation support this conclusion.
It must be stated however that the term "child" varies from culture to culture. Some set the upper limit of this figure at puberty, while others set it higher, to coincide with legal definitions of "majority" for their country, which is usually around 18 or 21.
Sexual acts between adults and postpubescent adolescents are also seen as a taboo in some cultures, while in others they are viewed naturally or with tolerance. Cultures are influenced by the local age of consent, religion and language.
The percentage of pedophile perpetrators in cases of child sexual abuse is estimated to be 2 to 10 percent (Kinsey-Report, Lautmann, Brongersma, Groth). Abuse is mainly a phenomenon of heterosexual and homosexual orientation.
Most cases of father-daughter incest are believed to involve fathers who are situational offenders, rather than pedophiles[4]. Some have argued that these cases are triggered by the withdrawal of the mother from the family, often due to physical or mental illness.
Legally, relationships between adults and adolescents do not necessarily include sex. Most of them involve sexual attraction. Courting a teenager below the age of consent is legal in some jurisdictions, especially when the individual's age is above the marriageable age. In other jurisdictions, this may be illegal.
Advocacy of pedophilia
There are a number of organisations and web-based communities, together referred to as the childlove movement, that seek to remove the stigma from pedophilia. Goals for these organisations and communities range from wanting to legalise sexual relationships between adults and children or teenagers, to merely offering a place for support and advice to those with a sexual attraction to children.
- The North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) advocates legalisation of consensual sexual relationships between boys and men.
- MARTIJN is a Netherlands-based advocate of adult-child sex.
- The Human Face of Pedophilia is a well known pedophile advocacy site.
- BoyChat is a support forum for male-attracted pedophiles.
- Girl Chat is a support forum for female-attracted pedophiles.
- Pedophiles Against Child Molestation (PACM) is an organisation of conscientious pedophiles opposed to child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
- tkGL.net is a support forum similar to Girl Chat featuring personal testimonies, on-topic debates, and coverage of related news/media.
See pedophilia and homosexuality for the historical relationship between pedophilia advocates and the gay rights movement.
References
There is quite a large amount of literature related to child sexual abuse, and sex offenders. However, what is lacking is proper authoritative peer-reviewed research into pedophiles in general, who may not have offended. Such information is of course hard to gather given the controversial nature of such research, and the fact that any research that gives a pro-adult/child sex outcome being condemned at large by various governing bodies, and children's charities.
- ^ Janssen, D. F. (2003). "Protoparaphilia." Unpublished. 23-27.
- ^ Freund, K. and Costell, R. (1970). "The structure of erotic preference in the nondeviant male." Behaviour Research & Therapy 8 (1), 15-20.
Quinsey, V. L. et al. (1975). "Penile circumference, skin conductance, and ranking responses of child molesters and 'normals' to sexual and nonsexual visual stimuli." Behavior Therapy. 6, 213-219.
Hall, G. C. N. et al. (1995) "Sexual Arousal and Arousability to Pedophilic Stimuli in a Community Sample of Normal Men" Behavior Therapy. 26, 681-694. - ^ Lanning, Kenneth (2001). Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis (Third Edition). National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- ^ Quinsey, V. L. (1977). "The assessment and treatment of child molesters: A review." Canadian Psychological Review. 18, 204-220.
- Ames, A. & Houston, D. A. (1990). "Legal, social, and biological definitions of pedophilia." Archives of Sexual Behavior. 19 (4), 333-342.
- Fagan P. J. et al (2002). "Pedophilia" (requires registration). Journal of the American Medical Association. 288, 2458-2465.
- Green, R. (2002). "Is pedophilia a mental disorder?" (summary). Archives of sexual behavior. 31 (6), 467-471.
- Rind et al. (1998). "A meta-analytic examination of assumed properties of child sexual abuse using college samples." Psychological Bulletin. 124 (1), 22-53.
- Levine, Judith. (2002. Harmful to Minors. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Discusses the perception and reality of pedophilia. ISBN 0816640068.
- Wilson, Paul R. (1981). Paul Wilson: The Man They Called a Monster. Melbourne: Cassell Australia. ISBN 0726992828. (Book about a court reporter who had sexual relationships with 2500 adolescent males; includes interviews with the later adults who reflect on these relationships.)
- Underwager, Ralph and Wakefield, Hollida (1995). "Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases." In J. Ziskin (Ed.) Coping With Psychiatric and Psychological Testimony (Fifth Edition). Los Angeles: Law and Psychology Press. ISBN 1879689073. 1315-1370.
Fiction
- The Woodsman (2004), a film in which Kevin Bacon plays a 45 year-old man attracted to 10-to-12 year-old prepubescent girls, trying to wrestle with his past offences.
External links
- Dictionary of Sexology, based on the books of sexologist Dr. John Money.
- Sexual Arousal and Arousability to Paedophilic Stimuli in a Community Sample of Normal Men
- Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions.
- Logical Reality, articles relating to pedophilia from a tolerant perspective, and a large discussion forum.
See also
- Teleiophilia - Minors attracted towards adults
- Age disparity in sexual relationships
- Child sexuality
- Grooming a child
- Moral panic (see also Brass Eye 2001 Pedophilia Special)
- Paraphilia, chronophilia, ephebophilia
- Girl Moment