Pedophilia - FAQ
What is pedophilia?
Persons who feel sexually and/or emotionally attracted to children are called pedophile. Women as well as men can be pedophile. Some pedophiles prefer children in a certain age-range, whereas others are more flexible. Some people are almost exclusively attracted to children, whereas others are also attracted to adults.
Are all pedophiles homosexual?
Approximately three fourths of the pedophiles we know prefer children of their own sex, i.e. man/boy or woman/girl. The rest are interested in the opposite sex or both sexes. Some pedophiles frequent the homosexual subculture while others don't feel welcome there and feel that they have little in common with gays and lesbians.
Is pedophilia and incest
the same thing?
No. Incest means sexual intercourse between blood-related persons such as brother and sister. In recent years the word incest has been used in particular about sexual relations between father and daughter or stepfather and stepdaughter. Such relations can be problematic because the father often abuses his position of power to get a sexual relationship, which the daughter does not want. The incestuous father is usually not pedophile, but uses the daughter as a substitute, for example because of problems in his relationship to her mother.
What causes pedophilia?
Throughout more than a century and a half, numerous sexologists, psychologists, physicians, and other scientists have tried to find the reason why people have different sexual orientations, but in vain. Often somebody has claimed that he has found the cause, but these claims have always been refuted by closer scrutiny. There is not even an agreement whether nature or nurture is more important. The only thing there is reasonable agreement about, is that the sexual orientation is determined already in early childhood.
The claim that people become pedophile because they have been sexually assaulted in their childhood is not supported by the experiences of our members or by controlled scientific investigations.
Is there a cure for pedophilia?
No. Officially pedophilia is regarded as a disease while other sexual orientations such as homosexuality, transvestism, and sadomasochism are regarded in Denmark as what they are: sexual orientations. The reason for this discrimination is purely political. There is no scientific justification for regarding the former as a disease but not the latter. We do not believe that pedophilia is a disease, and this explains why the cause of pedophilic orientations is unknown and all attempts at curing this condition have failed. Furthermore, pedophilia involves no "symptoms" as pedophiles cannot be distinguished from the rest of the population.
Throughout the times, many therapists have claimed their
ability to cure pedophilia and
other sexual deviations, but these claims have consistently been
refuted by long-term
follow-up studies. Occasionally, the patients have been
suggestionized into believing that
they had been cured. In other cases, the patients have
deliberately faked in order to
escape the possibly painful therapy or avoid ruthless
punishments.
How many pedophiles are there?
It is estimated that pedophiles constitute between 0.2 % and 1 % of the population, but this number in uncertain.
It is impossible to count the pedophiles because they are unlikely to admit to some unknown interviewer that they are pedophiles, and they may not even admit it to themselves. Crime statistics are not useful for this purpose because only a very little fraction of the pedophiles violate age of consent laws, and even if they do the children may have no interest in reporting the crime if they experience the relationship as voluntary and positive.
- SOURCE: Now defunct website of the Danish Pedophile Association
