As i understand it, it’s a reasoned (if incredibly messed up) argument; there are those who are attracted to minors, but choose not to act on it, as well as those who are and do and should absolutely be punished by the law. Those that don’t act on it, though, likely will choose to seek help and treatment. Or would, except the social stigma around it is so prevalent that they would feel ostracized for seeking help, and there isn’t much help to be had, except under the penal system anyway. If it were viewed as orientation, however, it would remove some of the stigma, there would be a community to reach out to for help and treatment, and it would fall under study. The reason for the attraction could be identified (maybe it stems from childhood abuse or trauma, or mental illness), and therefore can be treated under an appropriate psychiatric setting.
HOWEVER, this is a double-edged sword; identifying it as orientation could normalize that, and that would obviously be disastrous.
I stand by my previous statements that pedophilia cannot be a sexual orientation since pedophiles have a wide variety of sexual orientations and do not consistently choose victims in accordance to their preferred gender. It would be just as flawed to argue that domestic abuse was a sexual orientation. It's a behaviour, not a sexual orientation.
Some kinds of behavior should be stigmatized and punished. This is one of them.
Sexual preference is one thing. But if your "preference" is inherently harmful, then I have zero sympathy. Get help yourself, hold yourself in line, or die.
But there’s the trouble; to get help, one assumes that they would need to feel comfortable getting help. so if it’s intentionally stigmatized, why would someone seek help knowing the possible repercussions?
i agree with you, BTW, but it’s where the argument and controversy begin.
In an effort to "break the stigma" the terminology "MAP" was created. The end result of this was pedophiles more or less becoming a protected class on social media, and using it to advocate for the right to rape children, as well as discuss in detail their desire to rape children. They also often include fun terms like "AoA" which is the Age of Attraction (aka the age of their preferred victims) in their bios. This can range from newborn (0 months) to adulthood.
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People genuinely trying to get help should not be punished for it, but the stigma served a purpose. Now it's being abused and weaponized.
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Idk what the solution is. All I can say is I'd rather see an adult not get help and have to deal with it on their own than ever see child rape, torture, trauma, and abuse be normalized
"The end result of this was pedophiles more or less becoming a protected class on social media," - wow, you're taking strawmanning to a whole new level... smh
Part of the issue is that in many places in the US, confessing an attraction to minors, whether it had been acted on or not, is considered exempt from patient confidentiality and reporting is mandatory for mental health professionals. Being reported- again, for trying to get help before anything can happen - can also lead to being put on a sex offender registry.
Never heard of that. It doesn't make much sense to be able to report someone for... a literal thought crime. That's part of why therapy exists.
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Reporting for someone expressing an intention to commit the crime I could see.
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I'm not sure putting them on some sort of registry is wrong, but the offender registry isn't the right one. Most pedophiles require supervision or they will offend when they have an opportunity, but making it impossible for them to seek help isn't a productive solution
HOWEVER, this is a double-edged sword; identifying it as orientation could normalize that, and that would obviously be disastrous.
Sexual preference is one thing. But if your "preference" is inherently harmful, then I have zero sympathy. Get help yourself, hold yourself in line, or die.
i agree with you, BTW, but it’s where the argument and controversy begin.
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People genuinely trying to get help should not be punished for it, but the stigma served a purpose. Now it's being abused and weaponized.
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Idk what the solution is. All I can say is I'd rather see an adult not get help and have to deal with it on their own than ever see child rape, torture, trauma, and abuse be normalized
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Reporting for someone expressing an intention to commit the crime I could see.
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I'm not sure putting them on some sort of registry is wrong, but the offender registry isn't the right one. Most pedophiles require supervision or they will offend when they have an opportunity, but making it impossible for them to seek help isn't a productive solution