Pedophilia

==Society and culture==

===General===
Pedophilia is one of the most stigmatized mental disorders.<ref name="jahnkeblind">{{cite journal | first1 = Sara | last1 = Jahnke | first2 = Juergen | last2 = Hoyer | year = 2013 | title = Stigma against people with pedophilia: A blind spot in stigma research? | journal = International Journal of Sexual Health | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 169–184 | doi=10.1080/19317611.2013.795921 | s2cid = 145656359 }}</ref><ref name="Jahnke2018">{{cite journal | last =Jahnke|first=S.|title=The stigma of pedophilia: Clinical and forensic implications|url=https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1027%2F1016-9040%2Fa000325|year=2018| journal = European Psychologist|pages=144–153| volume =23| issue = 2|doi=10.1027/1016-9040/a000325}}</ref> Among the public, common feelings include anger, fear and social rejection of pedophiles who have not committed a crime. Such attitudes could negatively impact child sexual abuse prevention by reducing pedophiles' mental stability and discouraging them from seeking help.<ref name="Jahnke2018"/> According to sociologists Melanie-Angela Neuilly and Kristen Zgoba, social concern over pedophilia intensified greatly in the 1990s, coinciding with several sensational sex crimes (but a general decline in child sexual abuse rates). They found that ''pedophile'' appeared only rarely in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and {{Lang|fr|[[Le Monde]]}} before 1996, with zero mentions in 1991.<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = Neuillya, M. | author2 = Zgobab, K. | year = 2006 | title = Assessing the Possibility of a Pedophilia Panic and Contagion Effect Between France and the United States | journal = Victims & Offenders | volume = 1 | issue = 3 | pages = 225–254 | doi=10.1080/15564880600626122 | s2cid = 144284647 }}</ref>

Social attitudes towards child sexual abuse are extremely negative, with some surveys ranking it as morally worse than murder.{{r|seto|p=viii}} Early research showed that there was a great deal of misunderstanding and unrealistic perceptions in the general public about child sexual abuse and pedophiles. A 2004 study concluded that the public was well-informed on some aspects of these subjects.<ref>{{cite journal | author = McCartan, K. | title = 'Here There Be Monsters': the public's perception of paedophiles with particular reference to Belfast and Leicester | journal = [[Medicine, Science and the Law]] | volume = 44 | issue = 4 | pages = 327–42 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15573972 | doi = 10.1258/rsmmsl.44.4.327 | s2cid = 21085787 | url = http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/13606/ | access-date = 2019-09-27 | archive-date = 2015-10-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151025123823/http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/13606/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Misuse of medical terminology===
The words ''pedophile'' and ''pedophilia'' are commonly used informally to describe an adult's sexual interest in pubescent or post-pubescent persons under the age of consent. The terms ''[[hebephilia]]'' or ''[[ephebophilia]]'' may be more accurate in these cases.<ref name=mayoclinic/><ref name="www.usccb.org"/><ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia | title = Pedophilia | url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/pedophilia | encyclopedia = [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] | access-date = July 19, 2015 | archive-date = February 25, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210225153604/https://www.britannica.com/topic/pedophilia | url-status = live}}</ref>

Another common usage of ''pedophilia'' is to refer to the act of sexual abuse itself,{{r|seto|p=vii}} rather than the medical meaning, which is a ''preference'' for prepubescents on the part of the older individual ([[#Pedophilia and child molestation|see above]] for an explanation of the distinction).<ref name="ames"/><ref name=lanning/> There are also situations where the terms are misused to refer to relationships where the younger person is an adult of legal age, but is either considered too young in comparison to their older partner, or the older partner occupies a position of authority over them.<ref name="www.huffingtonpost.com">{{Cite news | last = Guzzardi | first = Will | title = Andy Martin, GOP Senate Candidate, Calls Opponent Mark Kirk A "De Facto Pedophile" | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/06/andy-martin-gop-senate-ca_n_413624.html | date = 2010-01-06 | access-date = 15 January 2010 | work = Huffington Post | archive-date = 2012-11-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121111144813/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/06/andy-martin-gop-senate-ca_n_413624.html | url-status = live}}</ref> Researchers state that the above uses of the term ''pedophilia'' are imprecise or suggest that they are best avoided.<ref name="ames"/><ref name="www.usccb.org"/> Writing in [[Mayo Clinic Proceedings]], Hall & Hall state that ''pedophilia'' "is not a criminal or legal term".<ref name=mayoclinic/>

==={{anchor |Pedophile advocacy groups}}Pedophile advocacy groups===
{{see also |Category:Pedophile advocacy |List of pedophile advocacy organizations|Debate regarding child pornography laws}}
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From the late 1950s to early 1990s, several pedophile membership organizations advocated [[age of consent reform]] to lower or abolish [[age of consent]] laws,<ref name=jenkins2006>{{Cite book | title = Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties America | first = Philip | last = Jenkins | year = 2006 | publisher = Oxford University Press | page = [https://archive.org/details/decadeofnightmar00jenk/page/120 120] | isbn = 978-0-19-517866-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/decadeofnightmar00jenk/page/120 }}</ref><ref name="spiegel">{{Cite book | title = Sexual Abuse of Males: The Sam Model of Theory and Practice |last= Spiegel | first = Josef | year = 2003 | pages = 5, p9 | publisher = Routledge |isbn= 978-1-56032-403-4}}</ref><ref name="Eichewald4">{{cite news | author = Eichewald, Kurt | author-link=Kurt Eichenwald | title = From Their Own Online World, Pedophiles Extend Their Reach | newspaper = New York Times | date = August 21, 2006 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html | access-date = February 18, 2017 | archive-date = March 7, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210307013215/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html | url-status = live | url-access=limited}}</ref> as well as for the acceptance of pedophilia as a [[sexual orientation]] rather than a [[psychological disorder]],<ref name="Bernard">{{Cite journal | title = The Dutch Paedophile Emancipation Movement | author1 = Frits Bernard | journal = Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia | volume = 1 | issue = 2, (Autumn 1987), p. 35–45 | quote = Heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality and paedophilia should be considered equally valuable forms of human behavior. | url = https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/dutch_movement_frame.htm | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150914082902/https://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/dutch_movement_frame.htm | archive-date = September 14, 2015 }}</ref> and for the legalization of [[child pornography]].<ref name="Eichewald4"/> The efforts of pedophile advocacy groups did not gain mainstream acceptance,<ref name=jenkins2006/><ref name="Eichewald4"/><ref name=jenkins1992>{{Cite book | title = Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary Great Britain | first = Philip | last = Jenkins | year = 1992 | publisher = Aldine Transaction | page = 75 | isbn = 978-0-202-30436-6 | quote = In the 1970s, the pedophile movement was one of several fringe groups whose cause was to some extent espoused in the name of gay liberation.}}</ref><ref name=stanton>{{Cite book | title = Discourses of Sexuality: From Aristotle to AIDS | first = Domna C. | last = Stanton | year = 1992 | publisher = University of Michigan Press | page = 405 |isbn= 978-0-472-06513-4}}</ref><ref name=hagan>{{Cite book | title = Deviance and the family | first = Domna C. | last = Hagan | author2 = Marvin B. Sussman | year = 1988 | publisher = Haworth Press | page = [https://archive.org/details/deviancefamily00haga/page/131 131] | isbn = 978-0-86656-726-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/deviancefamily00haga/page/131 }}</ref> and today those few groups that have not dissolved have only minimal membership and have ceased their activities other than through a few websites.<ref name="Eichewald4"/><ref name=hagan/><ref>[[Benoit Denizet-Lewis]] (2001). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050325090306/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/ArticleDisplay.php?id=27 Boy Crazy]", Boston Magazine.</ref><ref>Trembaly, Pierre (2002). [http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/trembaly_2002__social_inter.pdf "Social interactions among paedophiles"] {{webarchive | url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091122153953/http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/trembaly_2002__social_inter.pdf | date = 2009-11-22 }}</ref>

===Non-offending pedophile support groups===

In contrast to advocacy groups, there are pedophile support groups and organizations that do not support or condone sexual activities between adults and minors. Members of these groups have [[Insight#Psychiatry|insight]] into their condition and understand the potential harm they could do, and so seek to avoid acting on their impulses.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-09-11 |title=The young paedophiles who say they don't abuse children |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41213657 |access-date=2023-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-01-07 |title=This man is a paedophile and he wants to tell the world about it |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/gary-gibson-comfortably-out-paedophile-urges-mental-health-tabitha-abel-a7514746.html |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Meet pedophiles who mean well |url = http://www.salon.com/2012/07/01/meet_pedophiles_who_mean_well/ |access-date = September 12, 2015 |first = Tracy |last = Clark-Flory |work = Salon |date = June 20, 2012 |archive-date = March 2, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210302174713/https://www.salon.com/2012/07/01/meet_pedophiles_who_mean_well/ |url-status = live}}</ref>

===Anti-pedophile activism===
{{Main |Anti-pedophile activism}}
Anti-pedophile activism encompasses opposition against pedophiles, against pedophile advocacy groups, and against other phenomena that are seen as related to pedophilia, such as child pornography and child sexual abuse.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/global_crime_report/investigation/cybercrime2.shtml | title = Global Crime Report – INVESTIGATION – Child porn and the cybercrime treaty part 2 – BBC World Service | work = bbc.co.uk | access-date = 2008-01-24 | archive-date = 2010-02-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100228030246/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/global_crime_report/investigation/cybercrime2.shtml | url-status = live}}</ref> Much of the direct action classified as anti-pedophile involves demonstrations against sex offenders, against pedophiles advocating for the legalization of sexual activity between adults and children, and against Internet users who solicit sex from minors.<ref name="bbc">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/872436.stm Families flee paedophile protests] {{Webarchive | url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090107090309/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/872436.stm | date = 2009-01-07 }} August 9, 2000. Retrieved January 24, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?channel_id=1&story_id=30373 Dutch paedophiles set up political party] {{Webarchive | url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071118220127/http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?channel_id=1&story_id=30373 | date = 2007-11-18 }}, May 30, 2006. Retrieved January 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.pjfi.org/ | title = The Perverted Justice Foundation Incorporated – A note from our foundation to you | publisher = [[Perverted-Justice]] | access-date = March 16, 2012 | archive-date = March 14, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210314210259/http://www.pjfi.org/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="NYT06Dec">{{cite news | first = Allen | last = Salkin | author-link = Allen Salkin | author2 = Happy Blitt | title = Web Site Hunts Pedophiles and TV Goes Along | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E2DB1531F930A25751C1A9609C8B63&sec=&spon= | work = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York, New York | date = 2006-12-13 | access-date = March 16, 2012 | quote = 'Every waking minute he's on that computer,' said his mother, Mary Erck-Heard, 46, who raised her son after they fled his father, whom she described as alcoholic. Mr. Von Erck legally changed his name from Phillip John Eide, taking his maternal grandfather's family name, Erck, and adding the Von. | archive-date = 2009-02-24 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090224124410/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E2DB1531F930A25751C1A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | url-status = live }}</ref>

High-profile media attention to pedophilia has led to incidents of [[moral panic]], particularly following reports of pedophilia associated with [[Satanic ritual abuse]] and [[day-care sex-abuse hysteria|day care sex abuse]].<ref name = Jewkes1>{{Cite book | first = Yvonne | last = Jewkes | title = Media and crime | publisher = [[SAGE Publications]] | location = Thousand Oaks, California | year = 2004 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=7rSICweU5QYC&pg=PA76 76–77] | isbn = 978-0-7619-4765-3 }}</ref> Instances of [[vigilante|vigilantism]] have also been reported in response to public attention on convicted or suspected child sex offenders. In 2000, following a media campaign of "naming and shaming" suspected pedophiles in the UK, hundreds of residents took to the streets in protest against suspected pedophiles, eventually escalating to violent conduct requiring police intervention.<ref name="bbc"/>