Pedophilia. Is it a problem, and is there a solution?

[Luthien Rogue]

It's not a sexual fetish.

fetish c : an object or bodily part whose real or fantasied presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification and that is an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression

sexual preference/orientation 2 : a usually general or lasting direction of thought, inclination, or interest

Just like you prefer the opposite sex, some prefer the same sex, others prefer... children... :sweatdrop

[Lionx]

As i said, the only real problem we have of this is that, more often than not, it hurts the child in the process no matter what intentions the older person might have if they had sex with the kid. I would say that molestors and rapists DO fit into the fetish category where they rampantly hurt kids like that just to satisfy their desires. The pedophiles that however do not do such things(however rare there are unfortunetly) i would say fits into the orientation definition more if it was to go by that meaning.

Kinda like...Casual Sex and/or Rape vs Long Lasting relationship...although that might not be the best of analogies...sorry its like 4AM @_@.

[UltimaLimit]

And you can call any of them "defects" if you so desire, but they're certainly NOT genetic. Identical twins won't necessarily end up with the same sexual identities. Hence, something else... what, I cannot say, but not genes.

I read in a scientific magazine that a guy with a younger brother is more likely to be homosexual, because after the first pregnancy, a genetic "switch" is likely to be turned off, resulting in the next guy being gay. Hence the reason I said it was a genetic thing.

I wasn't trying to imply that all homosexuals are freaks of nature. Sorry if anyone took offense to my earlier post.

[Lionx]

ERrrr..i dont remember saying that...you sure its from me?

Yeah i guess i can see where you are comming from, but i have had alot of people say they are genetic failures or whatever..and thats just...wrong somehow =/

[udsuna]

I read in a scientific magazine that a guy with a younger brother is more likely to be homosexual, because after the first pregnancy, a genetic "switch" is likely to be turned off, resulting in the next guy being gay. Hence the reason I said it was a genetic thing.

I wasn't trying to imply that all homosexuals are freaks of nature. Sorry if anyone took offense to my earlier post.

I don't know where you heard that, how outdated it was, or if you mis-understood the materials, but that is PAINFULLY innacurate. There are no genetic markers that turn on/off based upon the order of birth. There CANNOT be any genetic markers in the child that do it, that much is basic biology. And any genetic switches in the mother shouldn't have an influence of the biology of a child.

I can't tell you WHAT causes homosexuality, no ethical scientist could. We have many theories (also known as guessing), but no facts support any particular theory well enough to know for certain. I've mentioned it before, but there are many cases of genetically identical twins with differing sexualities. So, presumably, DNA has nothing to do with sexual identity. Or, perhaps, no more than how some people are more genetically prone to some types of cancer than others.

Of course, admittedly, some psychological traumas CAN cause sexual disfuctions that mimic sexual identities. But there are relatively identifiable signs.

[Suzanne]

I have to admit that I am not completely objective about this whole subject, because I am well aware that having met my boyfriend at the age of 14, I (who was 17 at that time) might myself be guilty of paedophilia in the eyes of some people.

Personally, I never felt like I was doing something wrong. Can't say I ever had an interest in 'young kids' or the likes either. To me he seemed more mature then me, and I didn't find out about his age later. Back on topic however.

For me the most difficult issue with this is what would exactly be defined as a paedophile, and exactly when you can say for sure the child is too immature to make their own decisions. I guess paedophilia is largely defined by the 'child’s' maturity in a possible (non sexual) relationship. I do agree that an eight-year-old can't possibly at that time think about the consequences of dating a, let's say, eighteen-year-old person. However, I do believe that when people reach puberty (13, 14 years old) they become more aware of what relationships mean.

Let me sketch out a stereo-typical example here. A friend of mine lost her virginity when she was just 13 years old, to a guy who was 18 at that time. She was pretty mature for her age I should add, and frequently went to bars with a faked ID (around here, The Netherlands, there are some bars that allow people to enter at 16, which is the legal drinking age for most alcoholic drinks). She didn't mind it happening either >> ; She didn't look her age at all, and I can understand if the guy thought she was 16. Would he be considered a paedophile?

Off course, rape is wrong in many ways, and in my eyes the worst thing that can happen to anyone. However, I'm against the dead penalty suggested by some here (well, they suggested it in some ways anyway). Anger and rage are understandable, and being the hypocrite that I am I must admit that I too would be very temped to bash skulls if someone touched my siblings in a way like that.. However, who are we to decide whether someone should die or not? In my opinion it makes us no better then the one committing the crimes. Medical castration is a better option in my opinion, resulting in being taken into custody when not taking the medications.

However, everybody should be offered an opportunity to prove themselves. Like pointed out before, when someone is a paedophile doesn't mean he sleeps with / rapes kids. These people have different sexual preferences then the majority of the crowd, and I guess in that way you CAN compare them to homophiles or bisexual people. Because a majority of the people is hetro, but that doesn't mean everybody else is.

It might be a smart action however to ask people that are paedophiles (I'm talking about all now, not just the ones committing rape) to not work at/around kindergartens / elementary schools / day-care centres and the likes, to avoid 'temptation' sort to say.