Pedophile movement: Difference between revisions

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#REDIRECT [[Pedophilia#Pedophile advocacy groups]]
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'''Pedophile activism''' or '''paedophile activism''' (Commonwealth usage) encompasses any pedophile-organized movement that aims for the social acceptance of [[adult|adults']] romantic or [[sexual attraction]] to [[child|children]] (see [[pedophilia]]); social acceptance of [[sexual activity]] between children and adults; and/or changes in institutions of concern to pedophiles, such as [[Abolition of age of consent laws|changing age of consent laws]] and mental illness classifications. Some activists also promote the use of terms such as "pedosexual", "boylove(r)", "girllove(r)", and "childlove(r)," wishing to avoid the stigma of the term "pedophile" <ref>http://www.boylover.net/info/aboutbl/</ref>.


{{rcatshell|
The movement has encountered intense opposition, especially since the late 1970s. Most countries now enforce laws against adult-child sexual activity and child pornography. Classification of pedophile activism as a valid political or civil rights activist movement is itself also unpopular. In an interview with KCTV5<ref>[http://kctv.com/Global/category.asp?C=73283]</ref>, [[Phill Kline]], Kansas [[Attorney General]], characterized the goal of certain pedophile activists to change age-of-consent laws as "twisted."
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In the United States the [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]] was once a leading activist group. In 2006, the political party [[Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid & Diversiteit]] ("Party for Neighborly Love, Freedom, and Diversity) supporting pedophile activist views was founded in the [[Netherlands]].
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==History==
{{main|History of pedophile activism|}}
Modern pedophile activism was founded in [[the Netherlands]] by [[Frits Bernard]] in the late 1950s.
In the 1970s, the movement made temporary progress towards its goals in continental [[Western Europe]], particularly in the [[Netherlands]].<ref>http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/dutch_movement_text.htm</ref><ref>Brongersma, Edward (1988). "Schutzalter 12 Jahre? - Sex mit Kindern in der niederländischen Gesetzgebung ("Age of Consent 12 years? Dutch legislation on sex with children")", in Leopardi, Angelo: Der pädosexuelle Komplex ("On the topic of pedosexuality") (in German). Frankfurt/Main, Germany: Foerster Verlag, 212. ISBN 3-922257-66-6. </ref>
It waned in many countries in the 1980s. The Internet now plays a large role in the contemporary pedophile activism.

==Strategies of pedophile activists==
===Study by Mary de Young===
In 1989, [[sociologist]] [[Mary de Young]] reviewed the literature published by pedophile organizations for public dissemination. She found that pedophile organizations she studied used the following strategies to promote public acceptance of pedophilia or the legalization of adult-child sex:
* '''Adoption of value-neutral terminology'''. According to Herdt, an anthropologist who has studied sex between adults and children in other cultures, pedophile advocates need to replace "dull and reductionistic" terms like pedophilia and abuse when discussing sex between "a person who has not achieved adulthood and one who has". Moreover, words like "child" or "childhood", which have [[developmental psychology|psychologically developmental]] meaning, should be "resisted at all costs".<ref>Geraci, J. (1994). Interview: Gilbert Herdt. Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia, 3 (2), 2-17.</ref> See also ''Promoting 'objective' research''.

* '''Redefining the term child sexual abuse'''. Another recurring theme among those seeking to gain social acceptance for pedophilia is the need to redefine or restrict the usage of the term "child sexual abuse", recommending a child's "willing encounter with positive reactions" be called "adult-child sex" instead of "abuse" ([[Rind et al]]. 1998). For example, Gerald Jones (1990), an Affiliated Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Women and Men in Society at the [[University of Southern California]], suggested that "intergenerational intimacy" should not be considered synonymous with child sexual abuse. According to Jones, the "crucial difference has to do with mutuality and control" (p. 278). Jones suggested, "Intergenerational attraction on the part of some adults could constitute a lifestyle 'orientation', rather than a pathological maladjustment" (p. 288).

*'''Promoting the idea that children can consent to sex with adults'''. The reconceptualization of children as willing sexual participants along with the decriminalization of consensual sexual relations is perhaps the key change sought by pedophile advocates. To counter developmental arguments that children cannot give [[informed consent]], for example, David L. Riegel (2000) stated in his book ''Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers'', "Anyone who holds to the idea that a young boy cannot give or withhold informed consent has never taken such a boy shopping for new sneakers" (p. 38). Many pedophile activists, amongst them [[Tom O'Carroll]], [[Frans Gieles]] and [[Lindsay Ashford]], actively campaign against the idea that children are unable to consent to [[sex]].

*'''Questioning the assumption of harm.''' The most common stance against child-adult sex is the assumption that it causes psychological harm to the minor. This claim is taken as true at face value, and any criticism about it is taken as a defence of pedophile activity. This remains to be one of the biggest barriers against pedophile activism, and advocates of pedophilia have attempted to change these barriers in a variety of ways. For example, these pedophile activists have argued that no there is little or no harm from child-adult sex. Some support their arguments by citing<ref>http://www.narth.com/docs/denial.html</ref> various studies that have argued that the negative outcomes attributed to adult-child sexual relations can usually be better explained by other factors, such as a poor family environment or incest (see Rind et al, 1998).
**Riegel (2000) asserted: "The acts themselves harm no one, the emotional and psychological harm comes from the 'after the fact' interference, counseling, therapy, etc., that attempt to artificially create a 'victim' and a 'perpetrator' where neither exists" (p. 21).
**Similar arguments are made by SafeHaven Foundation, an organization for "responsible boylovers". On their website, they wrote, "The child abuse industry ... takes a boy who has enjoyed pleasurable and completely consensual sexual experiences with another boy or man, and traumatizes him in an attempt to convince him that what he did was 'wrong'". In addition, SafeHaven argues that, "many of the supposed traumas elicited by psychotherapy turn out to be nothing more than the result of the False Memory Syndrome" (SafeHaven Foundation, 2001).
**In ''Pedophilia: The Radical Case'', [[Tom O'Carroll]] writes: "The disparity in size and power between parent and child creates a ''potential'' for abuse. But, on the basis that parent–child relationships are generally positive we accept that inequality is simply in the nature of the thing. I would like to see paedophilic relationships looked at in a similar light."<ref name="ocarroll">{{cite web|author=O'Carroll, Tom|year=1980|title=Chapter 9: Power and Equality|format=HTML|work=Paedophilia: The Radical Case|url=http://www.ipce.net/host/radicase/chap09.htm}}</ref>
**[[Edward Brongersma]], in ''Boy-Lovers and Their Influence on Boys'', where he reports the result of interviews with participants in adult–child relationships writes, "within a relationship, sex is usually only a secondary element",<ref name="brongersma">{{cite journal|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/brong90_text.htm|author=Brongersma, Edward|title=Boylovers and Their Influence on Boys|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|year=1990|volume=20}}</ref> and he referred to supporting studies by Hass, 1979; Righton, 1981; Berkel, 1978; Ingram, 1977; Pieterse, 1982, and Sandfort, 1982.

*'''Promoting 'objective' research.''' Pedophile advocates, such as Edward Brongersma, have argued that investigators of child sexual abuse have biased views (Brongersma, 1990), also calling for a less "emotional" approach to the subject (e.g., Geraci, 1994, p. 17; Jones, 1990). Brongersma and Jones have cited Theo Sandfort's (1987) research [http://www.mhamic.org/sources/sandfort.htm] on boys' relationships with pedophiles, published in the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Sex Research'', as an example of what they consider "objective" research (e.g., Brongersma, 1990, p. 168; Jones, 1990, p. 286). However, critics suggest that the study was "politically motivated to 'reform' legislation" (Mrazek, 1990, p. 318). Robert Bauserman (1990, see also [[Pedophile activism#Rind et al. controversy|Rind et al. controversy]]), in turn, has argued that Mrazek's criticisms are "vaporously distorted, irrelevant, or just plain false".<ref name="bauserman">{{cite journal|url=http://www.paedosexualitaet.de/lib/Bauserman1990.html|author=Bauserman R.|title=Objectivity and Ideology: Criticism of Theo Sandfort's Research on Man-Boy Sexual Relations|volume=20|issue=1/2|year=1990|journal=Journal of Homosexuality}}</ref>

*'''Declassification of pedophilia as [[mental illness]].''' Activists of the movement quote Moser and Kleinplatz (2003), who suggest that all [[paraphilia]] be removed from the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] (DSM).

===Other significant views and strategies===

Views not mentioned by DeYoung, but often opined by activists include:

*'''Promoting the testimonies of people who claim no harm from sex as a minor'''
:Various people, mainly adults, who have been sexually involved with adults as a minor claim to have enjoyed or suffered no ill effects from such contacts. Some activist websites collect and publish that anecdotal material.<ref>http://debateguide.googlepages.com/accountsandtestimonies</ref> <ref>http://www.cerius.org/child/index.htm</ref>

*'''Referring to experiences of situations where adult-child sex interactions are not illegal, both historical and ethnical.''' Pedophile activists often point to situations where adult-child sex interactions are not illegal (though not necessarily common) and no negative effects are observed. Most refer to ancient Greece, while some employ ethnological studies. Very few also refer to post-antiquity historical situations in the Western world where such conditions existed.<ref name="brongersma2">{{cite book|last=Brongersma|first=Edward|editor=Leopardi, Angelo|title=Der pädosexuelle Komplex (''"On the topic of pedosexuality"'')|year=1988|publisher=Foerster Verlag|location=Frankfurt/Main, Germany|language=German|id=ISBN 3-922257-66-6|pages=210|chapter=''Schutzalter 12 Jahre? - Sex mit Kindern in der niederländischen Gesetzgebung'' ("Age of Consent 12 years? Dutch legislation on sex with children")}}</ref>

*'''Invoking ideas of continuity between pedophile and other minority activists.''' Some activists argue that pedophile activism, feminism, gay activism, and anti-racism all relate to the experiences of supressed and misunderstood groups. Writers such as [[Camile Paglia]] have asserted that gay rights (from which much of pedophile activism diverged) should never have rejected the pederastic themes which some activists claim were the 'giveaways' required to make homosexual culture acceptable <ref>http://home.wanadoo.nl/ipce/library_two/files/paglia_guide.htm</ref>.

===Terminology and symbols used by the movement===

====Terminology used by the movement====
* '''Childlover, Boylover, Girllover.''' Some pedophiles and ephebophiles who claim that their attraction to minors is not solely sexual in nature prefer to describe themselves using the term ''childlover''. The derived terms ''girllover'' and ''boylover'' are then commonly used to specifically indicate a ''childlover's'' preferred gender of attraction [http://www.childlover.org/index.php/Child_Lover].

* '''Pedosexual.''' Some members of the movement use the term ''pedosexual'', positing that pedophilia should be seen as a distinct sexual orientation as with homosexuality and heterosexuality. It has also been used simply as a synonym for ''pedophile''.

====Symbols used by the movement====
[[Image:GLogo.png|thumb|80px|right|GLogo - Symbol of Girllove]]
* A blue spiral-shaped triangle symbol, or '''"BLogo"''', symbolizes a boy (small triangle) surrounded by an older male (larger triangle).[http://www.greenbelt.com/news/98/12/02.htm]. It was designed by an anonymous artist with the pseudonym "Kalos." [http://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"<ref name="ashford">{{cite web|author=Ashford, Lindsay|title=Graphic Love - GLogo Images|format=HTML||url=http://graphics.puellula.org/GLogo.html}}</ref> between adults and girls.

===Ethics proposed by the movement===

Some pedophile activists have proposed [[ethics|ethical]] frameworks for sexual interaction with children. <ref name=gieles">{{cite web|author=Gieles, Frans|year=1998|title="I didn't know how to deal with it": Young people speak out about their sexual contacts with adults|format=HTML|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/i_did_not_know.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="martijn">{{cite web|author=MARTIJN|year=1982|title=MARTIJN: What we stand for|format=HTML|url=http://www.martijn.org/page.php?id=200000}}</ref> Such frameworks stress the consent of the child, their ability to withdraw from the relationship, and having open, rather than secret relationships, as key factors.
<ref name=gieles">{{cite web|author=Gieles, Frans|year=1998|title="I didn't know how to deal with it": Young people speak out about their sexual contacts with adults|format=HTML|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/i_did_not_know.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="martijn">{{cite web|author=MARTIJN|year=1982|title=MARTIJN: What we stand for|format=HTML|url=http://www.martijn.org/page.php?id=200000}}</ref>

Most of the people involved in these efforts believe that such ethical guidelines can only work in jurisdictions where adult–child sex is legal 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''<ref name="rossman">{{cite web|author=Rossman, Parker|year=1976|title=A Boylove Code of Ethics|format=HTML|work=Sexual Experience Between Men and Boys|url=http://www.daretospeak.net/paiderastia/ethics.html}}</ref> which states that a pedophile should "do everything possible to protect his young friend from any harm, including exposure or embarrassment from arrest". MARTIJN's statement is unequivocal: "MARTIJN Association advises everyone to observe the law."<ref name="martijn">{{cite web|author=MARTIJN|year=1982|title=MARTIJN: What we stand for|format=HTML|url=http://www.martijn.org/page.php?id=200000}}</ref>

Not all groups associated with the movement support these ethical boundaries. For example, the group ''Krumme 13'' ("Crooked 13")<ref name="iol">{{cite news|title=Sex is good for children - German ex-cop|date=September 30, 2003|publisher=IOL|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1064876580961B265&set_id=1}}</ref> counseled convicted child-molesters to continue their activities once released. According to German AG Pädo[http://www.ag-paedo.de/fg-paedo/p17ahs.html] and Ipce[http://www.ipce.info/newsletters/nl_e_12/part_7.htm][http://www.ipce.info/newsletters/nl_e_12/part_6.htm], 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.

==Activities==
[[Image:K13-Aufkleber.jpg|thumb|Krumme 13 logo]]
Members of the movement claim that 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 [[ostracism|ostracized]] or persecuted. To this end, some organizations provide online counselling and [[suicide]] prevention services.<ref name="freespirits">{{cite web|title='''LifeLine''' is a real-time support chat|url=http://freespirits.org/lifeline/}}</ref> Radical organizations, like the ''[[Krumme 13]]'', have been accused of encouraging pedophiles to break laws regarding the legal Age of Consent[http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1064876580961B265&set_id=1]. Other organizations strongly encourage others to maintain constant vigilance in not breaking laws and maintaining a good standing in the public eye.[http://216.220.97.17/welcome.htm][http://www.martijn.org/page.php?id=200000][http://www.bkgirls.net/bkfaq.html]

Much online pedophile activism takes place on message boards for pedophiles, such as [[BoyChat]]. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Many pedophile activists now have [[blog]]s <ref>http://nld.puellula.com/Blogs.html</ref>. Many of these blogs, especially those at blogger (owned by [[Google]]) have been removed for alleged [[Terms of Service]] violations.[http://www.annabelleigh.net/messages/375234.htm]

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[http://www.ipce.info/newsletters/e_17/martijn.htm]

[[Robin Sharpe]], a [[Canada|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.[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2002/03/26/sharpe020326.html]

Various groups also promote 'holidays' intended to spread understanding and acceptance of pedophilia. [[International Boylove Day]] occurs on the first Saturday after the summer [[solstice]] and some people also celebrate on the first Saturday after the winter solstice.<ref name="ibld">{{cite web|title=A brief history of International BoyLove Day|url=http://www.ibld.net/history.html}}</ref> Alice Day is celebrated by female-attracted pedophiles, on [[April 25]].<ref name="yani">{{cite web|title=Alice Day|url=http://yani.glgarden.org/Archive/04-2003/nfcommunity.html}}</ref>
This is the day [[Lewis Carroll]] met [[Alice Liddell]], the girl for whom he wrote ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', on [[April 25]], [[1856]].

== Scientific claims ==

Members of the movement have referred to several scientific studies which document the large number of pedophiles in the population, including papers such as Hall et al <ref>http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/97-048_article.html Hall et al</ref>, in which 32.5% of male volunteers exhibited equal or greater sexual arousal to pedophilic stimuli.

Many paedophile activists promote the distinction between pedophiles and child molesters.<ref>http://hfp.puellula.com/Polemic/WhatIs.html</ref> Most psychologists agree that there is a difference between an adult who desires sexual contact with a child and one who acts on that desire. Fagan, Wise, Schmidt and Berlin, in their 2002 paper on pedophilia write:
:"Pedophilia is a diagnosis applicable to only a portion of individuals who sexually abuse children. Information has been drawn from published research about pedophilia and child sexual abuse in general to present the current state of knowledge. Despite a sizeable body of published, peer-reviewed articles about topics such as child sexual abuse, child molestation, and sexual offenders, data and our knowledge base about pedophilia have significant limitations." [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/19/2458]

===The movement's scientific aims and claims===

====Re-categorization of data====

Many pedophile activists attempt to refute scientific research that finds sexual contact between adults and children as predominantly harmful by stating there are a variety of different categories for adult-child sex interactions, commonly not acknowledged by mainstream scientific research. They claim that studies showing harm from adult-child sexual contact might have shown that some types of contact are harmless, if only the studies had carefully categorized the contacts into more narrow categories, such as 'consensual' contact versus 'non-consensual' contact. For examples of this ''lack of proper differentiation'' theory, see<ref name="brongersma">{{cite journal|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/brong90_text.htm|author=Brongersma, Edward|title=Boylovers and Their Influence on Boys|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|year=1990|volume=20}}</ref><ref name="califa">{{cite web|author=Califia, Pat|year=1994|title=The Age of Consent: The Great Kiddy-Porn Panic of '77|format=HTML|work=The Culture of Radical Sex|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/califa_aoc_frame.htm}}</ref><ref name="carrolingian">{{cite web|author="Carrolingian"|year=2002|title=Paedophile Ideology|format=HTML|work=Understanding Paedophilia For The Law|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/carr/carr_2.htm}}</ref><ref name="cloud">{{cite news|first=John|last=Cloud|title=Pedophilia|date=April 29, 2002|publisher=Time Magazine|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/cloud_ped_time.htm}}</ref><ref name="constantine">{{cite conference|author=Larry L. Constantine|title=The Sexual Rights Of Children: Implications Of A Radical Perspective|booktitle=International Conference on Love and Attraction|year=1977|pages=255-262|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/const_rights_frame.htm}}</ref><ref name="frederiksen">{{cite web|author=Frederiksen, Arne|year=1999|title=Pedophilia, Science, and Self-deception: A Criticism of Sex Abuse Research|format=HTML|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/frederiksen.htm}}</ref><ref name="Ree">{{cite journal|author=van Ree, Frank|title=Abuse by Definition? The Taboo as Excuse|journal=KOINOS|volume=25|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/vanreekoin25_taboe.htm}}</ref>

===="Socially Representative" sampling and change in ethos====

Some activists claim that 'sexual abuse' studies, by their very definition and aims, self - select the categories of interaction that involve negative experiences, even in those cases where medical or legal samples have been avoided, and a sample more representative of the general population has been used. Some also claim that there is political pressure <ref>http://www.paedosexualitaet.de/science/pressure.html]</ref> on scientists not to produce results that are contrary to the political consensus, leading to fundamental biases in research techniques (such as the confusion of correlation and causality) <ref>[http://www.paedosexualitaet.de/science/causality.html]</ref>. Other criticisms such as the use of confusing terminology, confusion of morality and ideology with science, and the generalisation of clinical and criminal samples to society as a whole, are put very similarly to critiques such as those listed on the MHAMic research website <ref>[http://www.mhamic.org/problems/summary.htm]</ref>

====The movement's 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, concluded 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.<ref name="fagan">{{cite journal|author=Fagan et al.|title=Pedophilia|journal=Journal of the American Medical Association|year=2002|url=http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/19/2458}}</ref>

The public often perceives papers cited by pedophile groups as "pro-pedophilia" papers, regardless of the author's claim to objectivity.<ref>{{cite news|first=Mark|last=O'Keefe|title=Controversial Studies Push Change in Society's View of Pedophilia|date=2002|publisher=Newhouse News Service|url=http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1c032602.html}}</ref>

====Rind et al. controversy====

{{main|Rind et al. (1998)}}
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 instability of the child's adult psyche. It notes that a significant 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 'Results of the present review do not support these assumed properties; CSA does not cause intense harm on a pervasive basis regardless of gender in the college population' (Rind et al., 1998, p. 46), but warns 'The current findings are relevant to moral and legal positions only to the extent that these positions are based on the presumption of psychological harm' (p. 47).

The paper faced multiple academic disputations, including sample bias, non-standardization of variables, statistical errors, and researchers' personal bias. <ref>http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/dallam/5.html Dallam et al., "Science or Propaganda"</ref> <ref>http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/dallam_02.htm</ref> <ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10376568 </ref> <ref>http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/rind/rtbval_3.htm</ref> <ref>http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/dal.htm</ref> The article's authors have published replies to these claims.<ref>http://home.wanadoo.nl/ipce/library_two/rbt/skept.htm</ref>

In addition to academic criticism, the article received massive criticism from [[American conservatism|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.<ref name="congress">{{cite web|author=US Congress|year=1999|title=Whereas no segment of our society is more critical to the future of human survival than our children|format=PDF|work=106th Congress, Resolution 107|url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=106_cong_bills&docid=f:hc107enr.txt.pdf}}</ref>

====Other 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."<ref name=spiecker>{{cite journal|author=Ben Spiecker; Jan Steutel|title=Paedophilia, Sexual Desire and Perversity|journal=Journal of Moral Education|year=September 01 1997|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/99-126_spieck_steu.htm}}</ref>
In one such study, ''Intergenerational Sexual Contact: A Continuum Model of Participants and Experiences'' (reproduced on ipce's website), [[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.<ref name="nelson">{{cite journal|author=Joan Nelson|title=Intergenerational Sexual Contact: A Continuum Model of Participants and Experiences|journal=Journal of Sex Education & Therapy|year=1989|volume=15|url=http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/nelson.htm}}</ref>

Theo Sandfort's 1980 study [http://www.mhamic.org/sources/sandfort.htm] in which 25 boys aged 10 - 16 and involved in [[pederasty]] were interviewed, concluded that:

:"Except on the basis of violation of moral standards, there was nothing in what these boys said that would justify punishment. …[The law] should be so drawn up that the kind of sexual contacts which these 25 boys experienced would fall outside of their application."

==Controversy and public reaction to the movement==
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.<ref name="OHCHR">{{cite web|author=Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights|year=1964|title=Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages|format=HTML|url=http://193.194.138.190/html/menu3/b/63.htm}}</ref>

Members of the movement assert 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 people associated with the movement to [[child sexual abuse]], and by the alleged similarity of this movement's views to the views used by some child molesters to justify their abuse.<ref name="lawson">{{cite web|author=Lawson, L.|year=2003|title=Isolation, gratification, justification: offenders' explanations of child molesting|format=HTML|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12907384}}</ref>

===Criticism of the political movement===
Law enforcement officials and psychologists have asserted that the movement’s online support groups enable pedophiles to justify engaging in adult-child sexual contact. They claim that adults arrested for child molestation frequently cite the positions of the movement as justification for their actions. (Finkelhor, 1984) [http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1154593941281930.xml&coll=2], [http://www.nbc10.com/news/9621055/detail.html], [http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-3-2006-104373.asp] [http://education.zdnet.com/?p=424] Some psychologists consider various positions of the movement to be the “cognitive distortions” characteristic of sexual abusers. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12907384]

For example, in August 2006, ''[[The New York Times]]'' published the results of a four-month investigation of online pedophile communications and activities. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=4ca4585011496b35&ex=1313812800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss] The newspaper described how “pedophiles view themselves as the vanguard of a nascent movement seeking legalization of child pornography and the loosening of age-of-consent laws.” And while "pedophiles often maintain that the discussion sites are little more than support groups,” the newspaper asserted that, “[r]epeatedly in these conversations, pedophiles said the discussions had helped them accept their attractions and had even allowed them to have sex with a child without guilt."

The movement's members have vehemently opposed these characterizations. As described below, two debates surround the movement: whether there is such a thing as harmless child-adult sexual contact, and whether the advocating of such views spills over into encouraging such contact.

===Skepticism that the movement does not support child abuse===

Many child abuse prevention advocates, law enforcement officials, and journalists note that various child molestation convicts were also members of the movement. Those involved with the movement have responded by claiming that this was either not true, the acts were victimless crimes (before intervention), or that the movement could have even helped them avoid crossing the line into abuse by giving them a more positive [[identity (social science)|identity]] than society does.<ref name=uittenbogaard>{{cite journal|author=Uittenbogaard, Marthijn|year=April 2005|volume=91|title=Possible causes of the pedophile witch hunt|journal=OK|url=http://www.martijn.org/info/OK91_EN_2.html}}</ref><ref name=sandfort>{{cite web|author=Sandfort, Theo|title=Constructive Questions Regarding Paedophilia|format=HTML|url=http://www.helping-people.info/articles/sandf_constr_quest.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference|author=Frans Gieles|title=Helping people with pedophilic feelings|booktitle=15th World Congress of Sexology, Paris, June 2001
& the congress of the Nordic Association of Clinical Sexology, Visby, Sweden, September 2001|year=2001|url=http://www.helping-people.info/lecture.htm}}</ref> 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 stay within the law – citing these arrests as evidence.<ref name=sfman>{{cite news|title=S.F. Man Held In Sex Assault On Virginia Boy|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1996/09/05/MN43587.DTL|first=Glen|last=Martin|date=[[1996-09-05]]|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>

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.<ref name="goldstein">{{cite journal|author=Richard Goldstein|title=The Double Standard|journal=The Advocate|year=August 20, 2002|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/advocate.htm}}</ref><ref name="mattingly">{{cite web|author=Mattingly, Terry|year=2002|title=Fathers, mothers & Catholic sons|format=HTML|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/cath_sons.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=John|last=Tierney|title=Wrong Labels Inflame Fears of Catholics|date=March 22, 2002|publisher=New York Times|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/labels.htm}}</ref>

====Child abuse cases in relation to members of NAMBLA====

Many of these incidents giving grounds to skepticism involve members of [[NAMBLA]], the organization most widely known to the US public. Some claim that these activities are limited to members of this organization and are not representative of the larger movement.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Dutch psychologist and pedophile activist [[Frits Bernard]] has argued 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.<ref name="bernard">{{cite book|last=Bernard|first=Frits|title=Kinderschänder? - Pädophilie, von der Liebe mit Kindern (''"Child-molesters? - Pedophilia, on childlove"'')|origyear=1976|edition=3rd ed.|year=1982|publisher=Foerster Verlag|location=Frankfurt/Main, Germany|language=German, orig. 1st ed. in Dutch|id=ISBN 3-922257-41-0|pages=126}}</ref>

Incidents include:

*Rev. Paul Shanley, a priest accused of abusing children as young as six years old over a period of three decades, allegedly participated in early movement workshops and advocacy, according to contemporaneous accounts of the events obtained by the [[Boston Globe]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/documents/shanley_0279.htm|title=Shanley quoted in GaysWeek magazine|publisher=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-06-shanley_x.htm|title=Shanley, priest at center of clergy abuse scandal, defrocked|first=Bizuayehu|last=Tesfaye|publisher=[[USA Today]]|date=[[2004-05-06]]}}</ref> Pedophile activists have sought to cast doubt on Shanley's conviction.<ref name="guide">{{cite news|title=Sex Terror: What's breathing down your neck?|date=March 2005|publisher=The Guide|url=http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/shanley_guide.htm}}</ref>

*Charles Jaynes was convicted of murdering a 10-year-old boy then having intercourse with his body in 1997;<ref name="rubenstein">{{cite news|first=Kathryn|last=Rubenstein|title=Massachusetts v. Salvatore Sicari "Molestation Murder Trial"|date=2001|publisher=Court TV|url=http://www.courttv.com/archive/verdicts/sicari.html}}</ref> the parents of the boy filed a $200 million wrongful death suit against NAMBLA, ''[[Curley v. NAMBLA]]'', claiming that while being heterosexual, "immediately prior" to the murder, "Charles Jaynes accessed NAMBLA's Web site at the Boston Public Library'".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wendy Kaminer|title=Speaking of|journal=The American Prospect|year=November 20, 2000|volume=11|issue=24|url=http://www.prospect.org/print/V11/24/kaminer-w.html}}</ref> By 2005, $1 million and five years had been spent to prove this claim.<ref name=oreilly>{{cite news|first=Bill|last=O'Reilly|title=Factor Follow Up Segment: Victim of NAMBLA?|date=April 26, 2005|publisher=Fox News Channel|url=http://www.billoreilly.com/show;jsessionid=DF269774D262DA202969C34B8A0D52C3?action=viewTVShow&showID=245}}</ref> The [[ACLU]] protested against associating NAMBLA with this case and represented them, asking the case to be dismissed.<ref>{{cite news|first=Martin|last=Finucane|title=ACLU To Represent NAMBLA|date=August 31, 2000|publisher=The Associated Press|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20000831/aponline171914_000.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ACLU asks federal judge to dismiss case against man-boy sex group|date=July 18, 2001|publisher=The Associated Press|url=http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=14432}}</ref>

*John David Smith, a San Francisco man convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy he was babysitting, met an undercover investigator through his activities as a NAMBLA member. According to the investigator, Smith used his contacts with NAMBLA to trade child pornography and arrange sex with children.<ref name="sfman" /><ref>[http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/virginiastatecases/1546974.wp]</ref>

*Johnathan Tampico was convicted of child molestation in 1989 and paroled in 1992 on condition of not possessing child pornography. After breaking his parole, he was found after a broadcast of [[America's Most Wanted]]. He was arrested and convicted on child pornography charges. In his sentencing, the court found that Tampico was a member of NAMBLA, that NAMBLA supported a foster home in Thailand that sexually exploited children, and that Tampico and others traveled to Thailand in order to have unlimited access to young boys at the foster home, as evidenced by a number of Polaroid pictures, provided by Thai officials, depicting Tampico with young Thai boys sitting on his lap.<ref name="tampico">{{cite web|year=2001|title=Tampico v. United States Of America|format=HTML|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/2001/0responses/2001-0571.resp.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2001|title=Tampico v. United States Of America|format=HTML|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=5th/0020178cr0.html}}</ref>

*James C. Parker, a New York man who, according to court records, told the police that he was a member of NAMBLA, was arrested in 2000 and convicted in 2001 of committing sodomy with a young boy.<ref>{{cite web|year=2003|title=The People Of The State Of New York v James C. Parker, Appellant|format=HTML|url=http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/slips/16023.htm}}</ref>

These incidents, in addition to a deeply felt opposition to such activists' views, have made the movement's activities and members extremely unpopular. Some activists in the movement refuse to support or be associated with NAMBLA, due to such incidents and general loathing{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.

====Child abuse cases in relation to other pedophile activists====
*[[Tom O'Carroll]], author of ''Pedophilia: a Radical Case'' and a founder of the Paedophile Information Exchange, admitted to two counts of distributing indecent images in September 2006, and in December 20, 2006, he was jailed for 2 1/2 years at London’s Middlesex Crown Court.[http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=CWSNAUKFCWKF]
*Ad van den Berg, co-founder and treasurer of the pro-pedophile [[Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit]] political party in the [[Netherlands]], was convicted of molesting an 11-year ld boy in 1987. <ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/17/news/dutch.php "Court refuses to ban Dutch pedophile party"] ''Associated Press'', July 17, 2006</ref>

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
<div class="references-small"><references />

===References===
*Lilienfeld, Scott O. ''When worlds collide: Social science, politics, and the Rind et al.'' (1998) child sexual abuse meta-analysis. ''American Psychologist''. 57(3), Mar 2002, 176-188.
* Ashford, L. (2002). ''[http://hfp.puellula.com The Human Face of Pedophilia]''
* Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg, G. (1988). [http://www.bkgirls.net/research/gisela1.html ''The Paedophile Impulse: Toward the Development of an Aetiology of Child-Adult Sexual Contacts from an Ethological and Ethnological Viewpoint'']
* Brongersma, E. (1990). ''[http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/brong90_text.htm Boy-Lovers and Their Influence on Boys]''. Journal of Homosexuality 20 - 1/2, 1990.
* CLogo Team (2003). ''[http://www.clogo.org/Pedophiles/index.html Pedophiles]''
* Dallam, S. J. (2002), "[http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/dallam_02.htm Science or Propaganda? An examination of Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman (1998)]". ''Journal of Child Sexual Abuse''. '''9'''(3/4), 109-134.
* De Young M. (1988). "The indignant page: techniques of neutralization in the publications of pedophile organizations." ''Child Abuse & Neglect'', 12 ('''4'''), 583-591.
* De Young, M. (1989). "The world according to NAMBLA: Accounting for deviance". ''Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare'', 16, 111-126.
* Finkelhor, D., ''Child Sexual Abuse'', Free Press, 1984 ISBN 0-02-910020-8
* Gieles F.E.J. (1998). ''[http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/i_did_not_know.htm I didn't know how to deal with it]''. IPCE.
* Gieles F.E.J. (2004). ''[http://home.wanadoo.nl/ipce/newsletters/e_17/statement_ethics.htm Ethics and Intimacy in intergenerational relationships]''. IPCE.
* Hohmann, Joachim S. ed. (1982). ''Pädophilie heute'' ("Pedophila today", in German). Foerster Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
* Leopardi, Angelo ed. (1988). ''Der pädosexuelle Komplex'' ("On the topic of pedosexuality", in German). Foerster Verlag, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
* Fagan P.J., Wise T.N., et al. (2002). "[http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/288/19/2458 Pedophilia]". ''JAMA''. 2002;288:2458-2465.
* Moser C., Kleinplatz P. (2003). ''DSM-IV-TR and the Paraphilias: An Argument for Removal''
* Nelson J.A. (1989). "[http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/nelson.htm Intergenerational Sexual Contact: A Continuum Model of Participants and Experiences]". ''Journal of Sex Education & Therapy'', Vol. 15, No.1, 1989, pp.3-12.
* O'Carroll T. (1980). ''[http://www.geocities.com/transrescen/radcase/ Paedophilia: The Radical Case]''. Peter Owen, London.
* ''Protestantse Stichting voor Verantwoorde Gezinsvorming'', (1981). [http://www.ipce.info/library_3/files/psvg_81_en.htm Pedophilia]. PSVG, The Netherlands.
* ''Paiderastia''. ''[http://www.daretospeak.net/paiderastia/ethics.html A Boylove Code of Ethics]''. Paiderastia.
* Rossman P. (1976) ''Sexual Experience Between Men and Boys: Exploring the Pederast Underground''. Association Press, New York.
* Spieker, B.; Steutel, J. (1997). ''[http://www.ipce.info/ipceweb/Library/99-126_spieck_steu.htm Paedophilia, Sexual Desire and Perversity]''. Journal of Moral Education, 09/01/1997.
* Underwager R., Wakefield H. (1997). ''[http://www.ipt-forensics.com/library/special_problems12.htm Special Problems with Sexual Abuse Cases]''. Coping with psychiatric and psychological testimony, Supplement to the Fifth Edition (Out of Print) (pp. 136-147). Los Angeles, CA: Law and Psychology Press.
* ''Vereniging MARTIJN'' (2004). ''[http://www.martijn.org/page.php?id=200000 What we Stand for]''. Vereniging MARTIJN.
* Schuijer, J. (1990). "Tolerance at arm's length: The Dutch experience." ''Journal of Homosexuality'', 20, 199-229.
</div>

==See also==
* [[Abolition of age of consent laws]]
* [[Age disparity in sexual relationships]]
* [[Child sexual abuse]]
* [[Child sexuality]]
* [[Sexual Morality and the Law]]
* [[Chronophilia]]
* [[Danish Pedophile Association]]
* [[JORis]]
* [[Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit|Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit (NVD)]]
* [[Pederasty]]
* [[Pedophilia]]
* [[Rene Guyon Society]]
* [[Rind et al. (1998)|Rind, et al]]
* [[North American Man/Boy Love Association]]
* [[-philia]] (list of philias)

==External links==

===Pedophile Activist/Supporter Websites===
* [http://www.ipce.info/ IPCE] - International Pedophile and Child Emancipation
* [http://www.ipce.info/host/radicase/preface.htm Paedophilia - The Radical Case]. Book by [[Tom O'Carroll]]
* [http://www.martijn.org/ MARTIJN], Dutch association for the acceptance of child - adult sexual relationships
* [http://agetaboo.org/ Age Taboo], Resource for minor - attracted young homosexual men
* [http://pacm.15.forumer.com/index.php? PACM] Pedophiles Against Child Molestation (old site [http://www.forumbolt.com/index.php?mforum=pacm2 here])
* [http://anu.nfshost.com/?page_id=2 ANU] - An organization designed to defend pedophilia rather than adult-child sex
* [http://puellula.org/ Puellula] The personal website of Lindsay Ashford, a Pedophile Activist
* [http://debateguide.googlepages.com/ Debate Guide] - Common arguments & anecdotal material

===External commentary and criticism===

* [http://absolutezerounited.blogspot.com/ Absolute Zero] - An online community that attempts to humiliate and silence pedophile activists
* [http://operationshutdownpuellula.com/ Operation: Shutdown Puellula] - Campaign to silence pedophile activists
* [http://www.liberatedfromabuse.com/boylove.html Boylove: Based on research, and interaction.]

===News articles===
* [http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/story1c032602.html Controversial Studies Push Change in Society's View of Pedophilia], ''Newhouse News Service'', 2002.
* [http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/9/23/94446.shtml Academics Defend Pedophilia], ''NewsMax'', 2004.
* [http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/med/chic.html "Pedophilia Chic" Reconsidered: The taboo against sex with children continues to erode.], ''Weekly Standard'', 2001
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html?ei=5094&en=79822c4e3a3e6773&hp=&ex=1156219200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all "From Their Own Online World, Pedophiles Extend Their Reach"] By Kurt Eichenwald, ''[[New York Times]]'', August 21, 2006

[[Category:Accuracy disputes|Pedophile activism]]
[[Category:Pedophile activism| ]]
[[Category:Pederasty]]

[[da:Drengeelsker]]
[[fr:Mouvement Childlove]]
[[ja:少女愛運動]]
[[pt:Activismo pedófilo]]

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