Is sexual child abuse in danger of being normalised unintentionally?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Is sexual child abuse in danger of being normalised unintentionally?


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/11/24/2377B76300000578-2847519-Self_confessed_paedophile_Eddie_39_pictured_will_a dmit_to_being_-134_1416848174416.jpg

Following the upcoming screening of Channel 4's 'The Paedophile Next Door' tonight at 9pm, debate will sure arise over whether the programme is a slow unintentional step towards normalising pedophilia within society. The documentary is said to meet a 'virtuous paedophile' who admits to being attracted to children on camera but who claims never to have touched children - the argument essentially being that those attracted to children should be helped or 'treated' to abstain from such horrific acts rather than act on them.

It'll surely be interesting viewing, but could this be a step towards unintentionally normalising peadophilia? In the 1970s, such groups existed in left-wing sexual 'liberation' circles such as PIE and in other high-up places, the aim being eventually to legalise such sexual relationships between adults and children - for a more modern day example, see NAMBLA. So do you think even discussing such a thing helps normalise paedophilia, and ultimately what is your view after watching the programme?

It's on tonight on C4 at 9:00pm.


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The debate is open to you.

[FlyingJesus]

Paedophilia =/= child abuse

Basic terms being misinterpreted, no debate. Child abuse isn't being normalised, all of this is quite clearly aimed at preventing abuse not allowing for it in any way.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Paedophilia =/= child abuse

Basic terms being misinterpreted, no debate. Child abuse isn't being normalised, all of this is quite clearly aimed at preventing abuse not allowing for it in any way.

Clarified the term by adding sexual.

And that's the debate, or at least part of it. I'm going to try watch it, should be interesting.

[FlyingJesus]

Still not the same thing, paedophilia is a thought pattern (or affliction or whatever) while child abuse is a crime. You're asking two separate questions ("is child abuse being normalised?" "is paedophilia being normalised?") and presenting them as the same thing. Both are interesting questions, but the thread title is asking one and the entire content is about the other :P

Very interesting subjects I agree, but this has been written out improperly

[Kyle]

If one individual can make a connection between paedophilia and actual abuse then there's a chance that others will do the same. Normalising paedophilia is a slippery slope which, much like the decriminalisation, legalisation and normalisation of other "afflictions" of the mid pertaining to deviant sexuality have inevitably caused exponential rises in not only being honest about our desires but acting on them far more frequently and openly. If stigma is ever removed from paedophilia and it becomes more accepted then is there risk of a rise in the still very much despicable behaviours that stem from it? It seems plausible to make such an assumption.


~~from phone

[wixard]

the stigma of paedophilia is huge and justifiably so, but if it's never removed how do you except them to get the treatment/help they need? we don't know enough about it to deal with it, but i think it's unfair to write off an entire group of people when not all pedophiles are child abusers

i'd rather see people be helped than waiting for them to do something, and only then taking action. keeping the topic taboo only increases the risk of people offending, as they'll be too scared to come forward and seek help. it's an area that could possibly be treated that may be undeveloped due to the lack of people coming forward

do you guys think it's a mental illness or a state of mind?

i'm really looking forward to this show tonight, it's a subject i've been interested in since listening to this podcast last summer, which if you haven't already i really recommend you listen to

https://soundcloud.com/this-american-life/522-tarred-and-feathered-act-two-help-wanted

pedophilia does not just occur in adults, it potentially develops in adolescence eg 12-13. imagine going through puberty and getting those urges with NOBODY to go to, terrified to seek help. i just think there is a lot more to be considered, i'll wait until i watch to comment further

[buttons]

i suppose i'd be worried that if it became less a taboo to talk about then actual dangerous peadophilles could claim they're seeking help and aren't out to abuse when they actually could be?
but i agree that it should be taken seriously as a mental illness rather than being something that's seen as them choosing to be attracted to children and them being automatically dangerous people to be locked away

i wonder what the stats are for how many people are attracted to children, we could know people right now who have that attraction to children but even if they weren't dangerous would you be 100% fine with allowing them to be near your children?

[benzoberzerk]

What's dangerous is mainly the massive misconceptions people have regarding what pedophilia is. As FlyingJesus said, pedophilia and child sexual abuse are two entirely separate things.

1. All pedophiles aren't child abusers. I think it's fair to say that most people would struggle immensely with having such a condition and I wouldn't be surprised if the suicide rate is pretty high.
2. All child sexual abusers aren't pedophiles. The arousal can be connected to things such as the feeling of power and not to the child itself, or simply be a learned behavior of someone who lacks understanding of proper boundaries.
3. Not all pedophiles are male. Not all victims are female. The stigma on certain types of child sexual abuse, such as female perpetrator and male victim, is still very high.
4. The abuser is in most cases someone who knows the child.
93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker.
34.2% of attackers were family members.
58.7% were acquaintances.
Only 7% of the perpetrators were strangers to the victim.
(https://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims)
5. Most victims of child sexual abuse do NOT go on to become perpetrators themselves.

I think it's positive that pedophilia is "normalized" in the sense that we can start separating the person from the condition and improve treatment, both for the pedophile's sake and to prevent there from being any future victims, but don't even talk about "accepting" or "justifying" sexual abuse against children.