Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Pedophile activism

Encyclopedia : P : PE : PED : Pedophile activism


It has been suggested that this article or section be [Merging and moving pagesmerged] with [Abolition of age of consent laws], but this suggestion is disputed. ([Discuss])

The pedophile activist movement, referred to by some supporters as the childlove movement, is a social movement that encompasses a wide variety of views. Generally the movement advocates social acceptance of adults' romantic or sexual attraction to children (see pedophilia); social acceptance of adults' sexual activity with children; and changes in institutions of concern to pedophiles, such as changing age of consent laws and mental illness classifications. Members of the movement also advocate the use of terms such as "boylove", "girllove" and "childlove" over the stigmatized term "pedophilia".

Today, the movement is extremely controversial and has made little progress toward its goals in legal arenas or with the public since then. Prior to 1982, however some progress might be seen in continental Western Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, see History of pedophile activism.

Brief overview of modern pedophile activism

Modern pedophile activism started during the 1950s in the Netherlands where the international Enclave kring ("Enclave circle") organization was formed for this purpose (as based upon pre-war structures) by psychologist and frequent expert witness Dr. Frits Bernard and others. Up to the 1980s, Bernard had a pivotal status for pedophile activism that Magnus Hirschfeld had had for the early gay movement.

By the 1970s, Bernard's Enclave kring had established a rich variety of scientific and social movement activities concerning pedophilia and advocacy of adult-child sexual activities in the Netherlands and to a lesser degree in Western Europe.

Since the 1980s, this pedophile activism has continuously suffered a major retreat, significantly due to the negative public reputation bodies such as the British Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) and the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) had gained. Recently pedophile activist groups have started to communicate over the internet, but this has not resulted in the foundation of more traditional organisations.

Views and strategies of pedophile activists

Promoted views

In 1989, sociologist Mary DeYoung reviewed the literature published by pedophile organizations for public dissemination. She found that pedophile organizations used the following strategies to promote goals of public acceptance of pedophilia:

Further significant views and strategies not mentioned by DeYoung include:

Ethics proposed by the movement

Rejection of pedophilia is ingrained in some of the world's cultures, especially in modern Western ones. Despite this societal rejection, many pedophiles claim to understand children's sexuality, and have proposed an ethical framework that could allow acceptance of their desire for sexual interaction with children.

In a 1998 newspaper interview, Dutch psychiatrist Gerald Roelofs suggested the following five guidelines for relationships between adults and children:

About the same time, Frans Gieles, in conjunction with the JORis workgroup of the Dutch Society for Sexual Reform (NVSH) proposed the following four guidelines:

More recently, subsequent discussions about these guidelines have produced a synthesis of these earlier proposals. The following four guidelines have now been officially adopted by MARTIJN and form the basis of the ethos of the Human Face of Pedophilia:

Most of the people involved in these efforts realize that such ethical guidelines can only work in jurisdictions where adult–child sex is not illegal and therefore do not address the ethical issues of having an illegal relationship with a minor. Instead, illegal activity is discouraged, such as in the Boylove Code of Ethics which states that the pedophiles should "do everything possible to protect his young friend from any harm, including exposure or embarrassment from arrest," even if this means refraining from consensual activity considered illegal in their jurisdiction. MARTIJN's statement is unequivocal: "MARTIJN Association advises everyone to observe the law."

Not all groups associated with the movement support these ethical boundaries. For example, the group Krumme 13 ("Crooked 13") counseled convicted child-molesters to continue their activities once released. According to German AG Pädo[link] and Ipce[link][link], two other pedophile activist groups, Krumme 13's jailed leader was not trusted in the pedophile community, and the group was detrimental to the pedophile movement.

A more in depth and broader code of ethics of moral pedophiles had been penned, no observation of such has been recognized. It states explicitly that,

Any violation, extension, or limitation of the code will be considered an act worthy of investigation, and possibly grounds for removal, by the local legislature, of the Childlover from the child depending on the child's suffrage, and other individual case circumstances resulting from relationship on a case-by-case basis..." and that "Any breach of these terms is not considered an act worthy of the Childlove movement. The movement will uphold these terms and these terms alone, as guidelines for consensual relationships with children should any adult choose to label them self a Childlover and carry out any relationship with a human child."
The terms outline in more detail the Boylove Code of Ethics, but are more inclusive to accommodate a childlove collective.

While members of the childlove movement claim that, within an ethical framework, these relationships can be mutually beneficial, society remains generally unconvinced and regards all child sexual activity as unethical and criminal.

Objections to the ethical framework are that a child is not mature enough to be able to have the freedom to withdraw from an abusive relationship and can be very easily coerced into maintaining this relationship with a pedophile. In most Western countries, the consent of parents and ongoing communication with them is not a consideration when prosecuting child abusers. Also, many child psychologists would not agree with the idea of child-adult sex being in harmony with a child's normal development.

Activities

Krumme 13 logo
Enlarge
Krumme 13 logo

The primary activity of the movement is peer-support for pedophiles. They attempt to provide support to others who would otherwise be reluctant to discuss their attractions for fear of being ostracized or persecuted. To this end, some organizations provide online counselling and suicide prevention services. Radical organizations, like the Krumme 13 (now disbanded), have encouraged pedophiles to break laws regarding the legal Age of Consent. Other organizations strongly encourage others to maintain constant vigilance in not breaking laws and maintaining a good standing in the public eye.

MARTIJN, as well as publishing OK magazine and providing support for pedophiles, is also involved in overt activism, distributing flyers and pamphlets at public gatherings and gay pride marches.

Robin Sharpe, a Canadian pedophile, successfully challenged some aspects of child pornography laws in the Canadian Supreme Court in 2002, arguing that his fictional writings were not illegal because they had artistic merit.

Various groups also promote 'holidays' intended to spread understanding and aceptance of pedophilia. International BoyLove Day occurs on the first Saturday after the summer solstice. and Alice Dayfor female-attracted pedophiles, occurs on April 25. This is the day Lewis Carroll met Alice Liddell, the girl for whom he wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, on April 25, 1856.

Terminology

Childlover, Boylover, Girllover

Some pedophiles and ephebophiles who profess their attraction to minors not being solely sexual in nature prefer to describe themselves using the term childlover to more accurately describe the attitude and ethos of the culture. The derived terms girllover and boylover are then commonly used to specifically indicate a childlover's preferred gender of attraction.

Some self-identify with these terms to convey connotations such as mentorship and love to their pedophilia, instead of the modern one of child sexual abuse.[[Citing sources citation needed]] Others use it to identify themselves as members of the childlove movement.[[Citing sources citation needed]] The term boylover and girllover are more fluid and flexible because they encompass other sexual attractions such as ephebophilia whereas pedophilia leaves out the possibility.

It should be noted that there is some controversy amongst self-identifying boylovers and girllovers around the existence of the gender-non-specific term "childlove", because each gender-specific-attractions are thought to be based on inherently different cultural norms and practices.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

Pedosexual

The term pedosexual is usually used when positing that pedophilia is a distinct sexual orientation, as are homosexuality and heterosexuality. It is also sometimes used simply as a synonym for pedophile. Usage of "pedosexual" is used in terms of referring to someone's specific sexual attraction whereas "pedophile" can also refer to the person's entire emotional, spiritual and social attitude as well as the overall ethos of classic pedophilia and pederasty.

Young Friend

The term young friend (or YF for short) can refer to a minor a pedophile is interested in and are on friendly terms with, without necessarily implying sexual activity. For example, the term can be used loosely to describe if for instance a group of boys visiting a pedophile's house on occasion to play video games, etc. Some adults use the term more specifically to describe a closer relationship with just a single minor rather than anyone who happens across their threshold. Some prefer to use the derivative SYF, (special young friend) to describe this more intense relationship.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

Symbols

BLogo
BLogo

GLogo
Enlarge
GLogo

CLogo
CLogo

Childlove Online Media Activism Logo
Childlove Online Media Activism Logo

A blue spiral-shaped triangle symbol, or "BLogo", symbolizes a boy (small triangle) surrounded by an older male (larger triangle).[link] It was designed by "Kalos."[www.iin.oea.org/proy_trafico_ninos_internet/avances.2005.pdf]

A similar logo, a heart within a heart, or "GLogo" was later developed by some pedophiles attracted to girls to symbolize a "bond of love" between adults and girls.

Another logo, the "CLogo", was proposed by the CLogo team in the Netherlands as a logo that could be used to represent the aspirations of child lovers. Pedophiles have mixed opinions on this logo.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

The "Childlove Online Media Activism Logo" ("CLOMAL") was made in 2005 by Rookiee Revolyob.[[Citing sources citation needed]] The Childlove Online Media Activism Logo is a general-purpose logo which may be used by those who utilize online media formats (such as blogs, podcasts, webcasts, and other protocols) to further the cause of youth civil rights and childlove acceptance. The original use of the logo was intended to be for his podcast, "Pedologues" but soon after broadened the intended usage to allow open usage by the BL and GL communities.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

Scientific papers' impacts on pedophile activism

Demanding scientific categorizing of adult-child sex interactions

Many pedophile activists attempt to refute scientific research that finds all sexual contact between adults and children to be harmful, such as by stating there are a variety different categories of adult-child sex interactions commonly not acknowledged by mainstream scientific research but instead regarded as one phenomenon yielding one outcome, a type of finding supposedly facilitated by statistic factors from grouping all claimed categories as one. For examples of this lack of proper differentiation theory, see .

Use of scientific papers

Many in the movement use scientific papers in their arguments, disputing some claims of psychological harm from child sexual abuse and using other papers to argue for changes in policy or public opinion. The researchers Fagan, Wise, Schmidt and Berlin, in their 2002 paper on pedophilia, wrote "our knowledge base about pedophilia have significant limitations." The paper also concludes that most child-sex abuse cases involve adults not motivated by sexual attraction to the child (pedophilia per se), and who are therefore not pedophiles in the medical sense. Individual reinterpretations of these papers are often used to refute other research or make claims for changes in social norms.

Prominent psychologist Richard Green has proposed declassifying pedophilia as a mental illness, along with other paraphilias. One paper published in a scientific journal that was publicly perceived as supporting pedophilia, Rind et al. (1998), has been acted against by the U.S. Congress.

The public often perceives papers cited by pedophile groups as "pro-pedophilia" papers, regardless of the author's claim to objectivity.

Rind et al. controversy

A meta-analysis of college studies by Bruce Rind, Philip Tromovitch and Robert Bauserman published by the American Psychological Association in 1998 found a weak correlation between sex abuse in childhood and the later stability of the child's adult psyche. It notes that a not insignificant percentage reported their reactions to sex abuse as positive in the short term. It concludes that for research purposes some cases of child sex abuse would be better labeled "adult-child sex". The article states in the addendum that "the findings of the current review do not imply that moral or legal definitions of or views on behaviors currently classified as CSA should be abandoned or even altered." (Rind et al., 1998, p. 47)

Nevertheless, the article received massive criticism from conservative activists and groups, including radio personality Laura Schlessinger. She and others called the article an attempt to normalize pedophilia. Congressman Tom DeLay and others sought a formal congressional action against the APA for the article. In 1999 Congress unanimously passed a bill stating that "children are a precious gift and responsibility given to parents by God" and that the study was "severely flawed", although it did not cite any specific errors.

Other psychology papers

Ben Spiecker and Jan Steutel, in a paper entitled Paedophilia, Sexual Desire and Perversity argued that consent is possible in some older prepubescent children. However, they also concluded that "paedophile sex is a form of exploitation because it endangers the long-term welfare of the child. Consequently, paedophilia involves desires towards behaviour that is morally wrong, but only in some forms of paedophilia are these desires perverse." In one such study, Intergenerational Sexual Contact: A Continuum Model of Participants and Experiences, Joan Nelson writes:

De Young (1982) reports that 20% of her "victims" appeared to be "virtually indifferent to their molestation" Instead, they tended to be traumatized by the reaction of adults to its discovery.

Controversy and public reaction to the movement

Members of the movement claim that they do not support child abuse or illegal activity; public reaction to this claim has been skeptical. This skepticism has been reinforced by publicized incidents linking members and groups associated with the movement to actual sexual child abuse and by the similarity of the movement's views to the views used by sexual child abusers to justify their abuse On the contrary, one might argue just as well that these common generalizing interpretations might in fact be motivated by morals instead of being based upon actual primary detrimental effects and etiological illness classifications.

The movement has sparked intense opposition initiating in English-speaking countries since the late 1970s and its political progress has been limited or minimal since then. Nearly all national governments conform to United Nations protocols for age-of-consent legislation and the criminalization of child pornography. From 2000 to 2004, over 130 nations signed a United Nations accord to criminalize child pornography. The U.N. convention on legal age for marriage has been in force since 1964.

In the scientific arena, the psychiatric consensus remains that adult-child sexual contact is frequently associated with often grievous harm and that children are cognitively and developmentally incapable of giving informed consent to any kind of sexual activity.

In the battle for societal acceptance, public perception of pedophile activism has focused on incidents implicating supporters of the movement in child sexual abuse.

Skepticism that the movement does not support child abuse

Many child abuse prevention advocates, law enforcement officials, and journalists note that the movement's claim of separating advocacy from abuse does not always hold true. Those involved with the movement often respond by claiming that high-profile child abusers were not members of the movement, or that the movement could have even helped them avoid crossing the line into abuse by giving them a more positive identity than society does. Some claim that dwelling on these arrests attempts to smear the movement through guilt-by-association. Nonetheless, mainstream observers remain skeptical that ardent advocates of adult-child romance and sex do not act on the desires they claim are legitimate and harmless – citing these arrests as evidence.

Concerning the recent sex scandals involving Catholic priests in the US, some pedophile activists say that these scandals only or prominently involved minor partners that during the times of sexual interactions were adolescent and thus, these scandals have nothing to do with pedophile activism.

Many of these incidents giving grounds to skepticism involve members of NAMBLA, the organization most widely known to the public. Some claim that these activities are limited to members of this organization and are not representative of the larger movement. Note also Bernard's statement that NAMBLA at least started out as an ephebophile, not a pedophile activism organization as identifiable by its original political and social reform program, and that its program remained like that at least until 1982 when Bernard made his statement.

Incidents include:

Publicity regarding these incidents — in addition to deeply felt opposition to the movement's views -- have led to extreme controversy surrounding the movement's activities and members. Many in the movement have professed that they don't uphold or support the ideals of NAMBLA due to the controversy attributed to its doctrines and the crimes involved with it.

Notes and references

Notes

References

See also

External links

Advocacy websites

News articles

Miscellany

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: