Pro-pedophile activism

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Pro-pedophile activism, also spelled pro-paedophile activism, is a small fringe movement that was most active from the 1950s to the early 1990s and is now maintained mostly through several websites.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} One of its goals - summed up by a supporter, Frits Bernard - is advocating the acceptance of pedophilia as a sexual orientation rather than a psychological disorder.^[6] Some activists also promote the related goals of "normalizing" the concept of sexual activities involving an adult and a child (legally defined as child sexual abuse in every developed country^[7][8]), legalizing such activities by lowering or abolishing the age of consent laws,^[9][10][11], and/or reform of child pornography legislation. Pro-pedophile activists have described their movement as analogous to other new social movements, in particular the LGBT social movements,^{[12][11][4][5]} and some call for what they describe as "children's rights", to allow children to make their own decisions about sexual relationships without constraint by the authority of their parents or other adults. ^[11]

Present-day pro-pedophile activism occurs mostly through websites and internet discussion forums;^[1] in the past, the movement was advocated through periodicals such as the Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia (1987–1995) and through a few membership organizations, which now have declining membership or have ceased their activities in recent times, such as the Danish Pedophile Association and the North American Man/Boy Love Association.^[13][3]

An increasing public focus on and disapproval of pedophilia has motivated more stringent legislation and stronger criminal penalties regarding child pornography, child sexual abuse, and use of the internet to facilitate these offenses.^[14][15][16] The idea of granting pro-pedophile activism status as a valid political or civil rights movement is seen as unacceptable by mainstream society.^[17][18][2] In addition to mass mainstream rejection, there is also organized anti-pedophile activism.

Contents 1 Medical definitions of pedophilia 2 History 2.1 Netherlands 2.2 P.I.E., NAMBLA, and the decline of the movement 3 Present Activism 3.1 Boychat 4 Ganymede collective 4.1 Miscellaneous 4.1.1 Sex tourism and free speech activism 5 Terminology and symbols 5.1 Terminology 5.2 Symbols 6 Ethics proposed 7 Strategies for promoting acceptance 7.1 Study by Mary de Young 7.1.1 Other strategies include: 7.2 Other strategies for promoting public acceptance 7.3 Rind et al. controversy 8 Criticism 8.1 Criminal cases publicly linked to activists 8.1.1 Child abuse cases in relation to members of NAMBLA 8.1.2 Criminal cases in relation to other pedophile activists 9 See also 9.1 Advocate groups 9.2 Opponent groups 10 Notes and references 10.1 Notes 10.2 References

[edit] Medical definitions of pedophilia

The ICD-10, an international classification of diseases published by the World Health Organization, lists pedophilia as a paraphilia, and refers to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), mentioned below, for its definition.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), describes pedophilia as a paraphilia.^[19][20] The diagnosis criteria for Pedophilia are:

A. Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger);

B. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty;

C. The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in criterion A.

In addition, the APA released a statement in 2003 regarding the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia:

The DSM is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals and provides clear, objective descriptions of mental illnesses, based upon scientific research. Pedophilia is categorized in the DSM-IV-TR as one of several paraphilic mental disorders. The essential features of a Paraphilia are recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors that generally involve nonhuman subjects, children, or other nonconsenting adults, or the suffering or humiliation of oneself or one’s partner. An adult who engages in sexual activity with a child is performing a criminal and immoral act and this is never considered normal or socially acceptable behavior. Darrel A. Regier, M.D., M.P.H., Director, American Psychiatric Association’s Division of Research states, “there are no plans or processes set up that would lead to the removal of the Paraphilias from their consideration as legitimate mental disorders.”^[21]

[edit] History

In the 1970s, the movement established itself in continental Western Europe,^{[citation needed]} particularly in the Netherlands.^[22] At that time the North American Man/Boy Love Association was also a leading gay youth and pederast rights activist group.^[23]

[edit] Netherlands

Psychologist and sexologist Dr. Frits Bernard started the Enclave kring ("Enclave circle") in The Hague, the Netherlands in the 1950s. Bernard described Enclave kring as a "movement"; and wrote that its goals were "to break down prejudice about the issues of erotic contacts and relationships between minors and adults, and to provide information and advice as well as to initiate a direct assistance program."^[24]

In the 1970s, most organized pedophile activity was centered in the Netherlands, and to a lesser degree in The United Kingdom.^[25] A small number of Dutch researchers, among them Bernard, social psychologist Theo Sandfort, lawyer and politician Edward Brongersma and psychiatrist Frans Gieles, wrote papers on the topic, both from theoretical and practical standpoints. Some of the papers discussed the effects of adult-child sexual interactions. The data for these papers came mainly from analyzing pedophiles, but also from adults and young people who, as children or adolescents, had been involved in sexual relationships with adults. In a 1988 interview,^[26] Bernard said he had-- as part of his psychological work, and also as an authorized expert witness in a number of court cases-- talked to and analyzed "more than a thousand pedophile adults and about three-thousand children and adolescents who had had [sexual] contacts with adults."

On June 22, 1979, a petition along with a letter with the same content was sent to the Dutch minister of justice and simultaneously was brought before the Dutch parliament, requesting that the age of consent be lowered. The petition was authored by the Dutch Society for Sexual Reform (NVSH) and others. Although it was endorsed by some mainstream Dutch social welfare and public mental health organizations, the executives of the ruling Labour Party and some minority parties, the petition failed.^[27]

The section of child and youth psychiatry of The Netherlands Society for Psychiatry, as Jan Schuijer wrote, was "apparently alarmed by the success of the petition," and publicly opposed the demands for decriminalization claiming it would undermine parental authority.^[28]

From 1979 through 1981, the last major success of pedophile activism in the Western world was achieved when the Dutch Protestant Foundation for Responsible Family Development (PSVG) sold and distributed tens of thousands of copies of a booklet entitled Pedophilia (originally illustrated with photos) in and to Dutch elementary schools.^[29]

[edit] P.I.E., NAMBLA, and the decline of the movement

In 1974, the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) was formed in Scotland, later based in London, where its first meeting was met with street riots ^[28]. In 1978 the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) was formed in Boston: "In 1978, the Boston protests spawned an authentic pedophile activist movement, the North American Man-Boy Love Association [...] NAMBLA claimed to be in the tradition of an earlier gay rights movement, the Mattachine Society, which had been intolerably controversial in its day but was now seen as an honored forerunner of mainstream gay activism."^[30] Both groups were notorious in the early 1980s due to public outcry against them. Frits Bernard credited this to severely aggressive and radical behaviour of pedophile activism outside of continental Europe,^[26] while on the other hand stating his regret of what he called significant ignorance in sexual matters in general in the US.^[26] The PIE capitulated to public pressure and disbanded in 1985, however NAMBLA continued to exist. A 2005 newspaper article quoted an undercover police officer who said that in 1995, NAMBLA had about 1,100 members.^[31]

In the 1980s, a number of other pedophile advocacy groups formed including MARTIJN (1982), situated in the Netherlands, and the Danish Pedophile Association (DPA) (1985). This was followed in the early 1990s by the formation of Ipce (then the "International Pedophile and Child Emancipation," IPCE), an umbrella organization for pedophile activist groups. Although MARTIJN and Ipce continued to function, DPA disbanded in early 2004.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the movement encountered major setbacks in Europe and the UK due to a combination of events including the rise of the conservative political Right and the simultaneous rise of second-wave feminism that brought with it increased public awareness and concern about child sexual abuse, and decreased tolerance for child pornography.^[25] (According to Stephanie J. Dallam, this began to occur even earlier, and prompted a change in tactic for pedophile activists: "The simultaneous rise of feminism led to greater public awareness about the negative consequences of sexual abuse. Recognizing the futility of seeking decriminalization of pedophilia at a time when abuse victims were speaking out, pedophile groups changed their focus. By the 1970s, pedophile groups began to portray themselves as champions of children's sexual emancipation."^[32]). Jan Shuijer wrote of this:

"To mark the new strategy, the name working Group on Youth Emancipation' was adopted in 1979...the strategy failed to gain broad approval and understanding. It might have been more successful if it had been adopted earlier by a group concerned with children's rights. For [the Dutch National Pedophile Workshop], burdened by its past as a group of pedophiles, it came too late. The aging membership of the NVSH hardly provided an environment to start a working group on youth emancipation. The [Dutch National Pedophile Workshop] disintegrated in the early eighties. Many members had never shown much interest in youth emancipation in the first place, preoccupied as they were with their private concerns. Quite a few joined the new and insulated group which calls itself 'Martijn society.'"^[28]

As the decline continued, the membership of NVSH drastically decreased to below 10,000 (at times it had had up to 240,000 members) yielding a serious financial crisis.^[29]Bernard (born in 1920) retired from his occupation as a psychologist, as an expert witness, and from all of his offices in international organizations in 1985;^[26] though he made an appearance two years later as a guest on the Phil Donahue show during which he advocated pedophile activism, accompanied by a 23-year-old male who had been involved in a sexual relationship with an adult as a child.^[26]

Meanwhile, European and British law enforcement's efforts to combat child pornography and sexual contact with minors became more aggressive, and the number of convictions and incarcerated sex offenders increased.^[25] In the Netherlands, emerging feminist and victim organizations as well as juvenile police units still supported decriminalization as of 1982^[28]. However, Dutch police and law officials were increasingly educated by the FBI on "FBI methods of tracking down the makers and collectors of child pornography" (virtually and effectively "guidelines [that] target those who engage in sexual contacts with underage minors").^[28] In 1989, Dutch minister of justice Korthals Althes publicly stated that weekly meetings on these matters with the FBI and British government were established in 1985.^[29]

P.I.E was targeted by the Scotland Yard Paedophile Unit, and notable members, including founders of P.I.E. were consequently convicted of sex offenses against children, including:

• Geoffrey Prime--Member of the Pedophile Information Exchange in the UK, convicted in 1982 of three counts of child sexual assault, and of espionage against the Biritish government. His espionage crimes were discovered as a result of the investigation into his pedophilic behaviors. ^[33]
• Stephen King (paedophile)--"A predatory paedophile who established himself as an "expert" adviser to the police and courts on sex crimes. He was jailed for seven years for systematically abusing three girls. One of the victims had learning difficulties and all three had been severely traumatised by the assaults. One had attempted suicide. ^[34]
• Tom O'Carroll--Author of Pedophilia: a Radical Case and a founding member of both the now defunct Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) and IPCE, formerly known as the International Paedophile Child Emancipation Group,^[35] admitted to two counts of distributing indecent images in September 2006, and in December 20, 2006, he was jailed for 2 ½ years at London’s Middlesex Crown Court.^[36]
• David Joy --Joy was convicted of possessing 1,129 indecent images of children (some of infants as young as one year); several categorized on the UK child pornography scale as "level 5", the most extreme form, that includes sadism. Joy, a member of PIE's governing committee, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to four counts of making (reproducing) indecent images between January 1 2000 and January 24 2006, and to seven counts of possession. He had a large number of previous convictions for child sex offences dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, including the attempted rape of a young girl and indecent assault. ^[37]

After the International Lesbian and Gay Association was granted consultative member status within the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1994, the United States publicly threatened to cancel its annual financial contributions of US$1 Million to the UN because ILGA had four pronouncedly pedophile activist member groups: NAMBLA, MARTIJN, US-based Project TRUTH, and German Verein für Sexuelle Gleichberechtigung (VSG, "Association for Sexual Equality"). As a result, the UN status of ILGA was suspended and ILGA expelled all four organizations. The German Bundesverband Homosexualität (BVH, "National Homosexuality Association") called for international protests on ILGA for expelling these groups, in spite of the fact that BVH never before had been observed as sympathizing with pedophile activism.^[38][29]

[edit] Present Activism

After the demise of the movement, pro-pedophile advocacy began to make use of the Internet: "For socially isolated pedophiles, the search for 'human companionship' was a salient concern, and Internet technology provided a virtual solution to the absence of physical convergence settings."^[39]

[edit] Boychat

This use of the Internet as a space for advocacy and as a "convergence setting" began with the establishment in 1995 of BoyChat, a message board for "boylovers." In 1997, participants on BoyChat and other online resources formed Free Spirits, an umbrella organization with the mission of raising money and providing Internet hosting services: "Web sites such as Free Spirits can be viewed as 'convergence settings' in the sense that they provide structure and continuity in [the] face of any given individual, group or network instabilities." A 2004 analysis of the Boychat message board found that cognitive distortion was present in 27% of posts, and concluded that participation in pro-pedophile internet forums presents a relapse risk for pedophiles in sex offender treatment. In addition, the authors stated that forum participiation may also indicate that a pedophile convicted of internet-only sex offenses has committed undetected sex offenses:

"The social reinforcement of cognitive distortions may serve to compromise the therapeutic benefit of treatment. Participation in these message board exchanges might also serve to strengthen the distorted schemata of offenders, thereby making them more resistant to treatment. Moreover, there is evidence suggesting that individuals who have been convicted of Internet-related, non-contact sexual offenses are likely to have committed undetected ‘hands on’ offenses as well. Clinicians who become aware of deviant Internet usage by a client should investigate the possibility that the individual has a history of hands-on offending."

[edit] Ganymede collective

The Montreal Ganymede Collective was formed in Montreal by Free Spirits members in 1998 as a forum for pedophiles to meet in the real world. Pierre Tremblay, an expert on the Montreal pedophile community, wrote that the group is not an activist group, but a kind of deviant support group: "Some groups want to attract outsiders, convince outsiders of their positions. Other groups, the more deviant groups (like Free Spirits), want to convince latent members of their group to join in. ^[40] According to Tremblay, the Ganymede Collective has between 50 and 60 members, and about 60% have a prior criminal record. One member disclosed that, at the weekly get togthers, "I even met a fellow that had the same case manager in an Ontario prison as I had." [4]Ian Hodgson, a founding member of the Ganymede Collective, was convicted of gross indecency and sexual assault against boys as young as 11 in 1990. "Nevertheless, the 63-year-old has been an active member of the city's pedophile community." Another member, John Melanson, sexually assaulted a 6-year-old boy from a western Montreal suburb in 2000 while he was a member of the Ganymede Collective. [5]^[41]

[edit] Miscellaneous

IPCE, formerly known as the International Paedophile Child Emancipation Group (and successor of Paedophile Information Exchange with some founders in common),^[35] maintains a website of articles and texts that the group describes as scholarly and unbiased, and a closed forum for online discussion. According to their website, "Ipce is not an action group".

MARTIJN publishes a magazine called OK.. In 2004, Martijn claims it handed out flyers at a gay pride march in Belgium. [6]

Various groups also promote "holidays" on the internet, 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.^[42]

Some pro-pedophile activists attempt to create a culture of support to pedophiles who are afraid to discuss their attractions for fear of being criminalized and ostracized. To this end, some pro-pedophile organizations provide online counseling and suicide prevention services.^{[43] [44]} Some pedophile activists now have blogs. Many of these blogs, especially those at blogger (owned by Google) have been removed for alleged Terms of Service violations.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sex tourism and free speech activism

Some pedophile activists participate in spreading information over the internet about sex tourism, and argue that this is protected free speech. According to Patrick J Forde, information manager of Curtin University of Technology's business school, "paedophile activists have claimed the right to free speech in distributing and exchanging information about the sexual exploitation of children [in tourism]. They argue for a lifestyle that contradicts many cultural practices and violates laws. [in countries where they are tourists]" ^[45] The Philippines has been cited as a popular destination for sex tourism by pedophiles in the NAMBLA Bulletin. ^[46]

[edit] Terminology and symbols

GLogo - Symbol of Girllove

[edit] Terminology

• Child-lover, Boy-lover, Girl-lover. These are terms of self-identification used by some pedophiles.^[47][48]

• 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.^[49]

[edit] Symbols

• A blue spiral-shaped triangle symbol, or "BLogo", symbolizes a boy (small triangle) surrounded by an older male (larger triangle).^[50] It was designed by an anonymous artist with the pseudonym "Kalos".^[51]

• 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Ethics proposed

Some pedophile activists have proposed what they characterize as their own ethical frameworks for adult-child sexual interaction. The 1976 Boylove Code of Ethics^[52] states that "any boylove code of ethics will deal with the issue of sex in the relationship in a mature and responsible way." Injunctions include, "a pedophile should do everything possible to protect his young friend from any harm, including exposure or embarrassment from arrest," as well as "This could mean abstaining from fully consensual sexual relations if such is illegal in the state or country where the boylover lives," and "A boylover should not seek intimate contact with a boy, without knowing and understanding the boy's interests and feelings." MARTIJN advises against illegal sex: "MARTIJN Association advises everyone to observe the law." However, they do not believe that adult-child sex necessarily has to be unethical: "In relationships between children and adults that are experienced as pleasant, possible physical intimacy should not have to be a problem." MARTIJN proposes four guidelines for this "intimacy" ^[53] :

• Consent of both child and adult.
• Openness towards the parents of the child.
• Freedom for the child to withdraw from the relationship at any moment.
• Harmony with the child's development.

Not all groups associated with the movement support "ethical" boundaries. For example, the group Krumme 13 ("Crooked 13")^[54] counseled convicted child-molesters to continue their activities once released. According to IPCE, another pedophile activist group, Krumme 13's jailed leader was not trusted by some in the German pedophile community.

Pedophile activist Frans Gieles, who believes that ethical, consensual relationships are possible between children and adults, also notes that children say the same things about "consensual" relationships as are "commonly expressed in the sexual abuse literature."

[edit] Strategies for promoting acceptance

[edit] Study by Mary de Young

In 1989, sociologist Mary de Young reviewed the literature published by pedophile organizations for public dissemination, in an article called "The world according to NAMBLA: Accounting for deviance." She found that pedophile organizations she studied used four main strategies to promote public acceptance of pedophilia or the legalization of adult-child sex:

1. Denial of Injury: The use of anecdotal accounts of children who appear to enjoy sex with adults to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of such relationships to children. ^[55]Culpability for any harm that occurs to an abused child is displaced onto the reactions of others, such as the child's parents, and the criminal justice and mental health systems.

2. Condemnation of the condemners: Those who condemn sex between adults and child are portrayed as engaging in even more victimizing or exploitative acts then those for which pedophiles are accused.

3. Appeal to higher loyalties: The assertion that they serve the interests of a higher principle: the liberation of children from the repressive bonds of society. Also, the attempt to align with other, less stigmatized, organizations such as the woman's movement or the gay rights movement.

4. Denial of the victim: The conceptual transformation of children from victims of adult sexual behavior into willing partners.

[edit] Other strategies include:

• Adoption of value-neutral terminology. According to Herdt, an anthropologist who has studied sex between adults and children in other cultures, pedophile advocates should 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 psychologically developmental meaning, should be "resisted at all costs".^[56] 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, 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." Jones suggested, "Intergenerational attraction on the part of some adults could constitute a lifestyle 'orientation', rather than a pathological maladjustment".^{[citation needed]}

• Promoting the idea that children can consent to sexual activity 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. In his book Paedophilia: The Radical Case, activist Tom O'Carroll claims "What there most definitely needs to be [in determining consent] is the child's willingness to take part in the activity in question; whatever social or legal rules are operated, they must not be such as to allow unwilling children to be subjected to sexual acts. But there is no need whatever for a child to know 'the consequences' of engaging in harmless sex play, simply because it is exactly that: harmless." Many other pedophile activists, amongst them David Riegel, Frans Gieles and Lindsay Ashford, argue that children are actually able to knowingly consent to sex.

• Questioning the assumption of harm. Numerous pro-pedophile advocacy organizations have quoted the Rind study in support of their efforts to "lower or rescind age of consent laws", and defense attorneys have used the study to argue for minimizing harm in child sexual abuse cases. ^[9] Some support their arguments by citing various studies that they argue have shown 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.^{[citation needed]}
  • 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."
  • 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).^[57]
• Promoting "objective" research. Pedophile advocate Edward Brongersma has argued that investigators of child sexual abuse have biased views^{[citation needed]}. He has cited Theo Sandfort's (1987) research on boys' relationships with pedophiles,^[58] published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sex Research, as an example of what he considers consider "objective" research. However, critics suggest that the study was "politically motivated to 'reform' legislation," and that the sample of 25 boys used by Brongersma was unrepresentative.^{[citation needed]} Robert Bauserman has replied to this criticism by pointing out that Brongersma never claimed the sample was representative: "One of the first methodological criticisms of Sandfort's study is that his findings are invalid because his sample was unrepresentative. This criticism is made by all three writers: Finkelhor, Mrazek, and Masters, Johnson, and Kolodny. This would be a strong point against the study if Sandfort had claimed that his sample was representative or if he had been trying to demonstrate that most boys experience such contacts positively. However, Sandfort readily admits in all his writings that the sample can in no way be called representative of all boys who have sexual contact with men. He carefully emphasizes the limitations of his research, and states that his conclusions cannot be generalized to all man-boy contacts, to contacts between men and girls, or to incest.".^[59]

• Declassification of pedophilia as mental illness. Activists sometimes refer positively to academics who argue that pedophilia should be removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), for example, Frans Gieles mentions Richard Green.

[edit] Other strategies for promoting public acceptance

Views not mentioned by de Young, but often opined by activists include:

• Promoting understanding of "relationships" Edward Brongersma, in "Boy-Lovers and Their Influence on Boys," reported the result of interviews with participants in adult–child relationships and wrote, "within a relationship, sex is usually only a secondary element."

• Referring to experiences of situations where adult-child sex interactions are not illegal, both historical and anthropological. Edward Brongersma referred to ancient Greece, and 19th century French Polynesia, where such conditions existed.^[60]

• 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 suppressed and misunderstood groups. This argument is made by Harris Mirkin.^[61] Other scholars, such as Camille 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.

• Pointing to juvenile sexual activity in the animal kingdom and invoking evolutionary arguments. Other species are sometimes used as examples of beneficial or normalized sexual contact between grown animals and infants or adolescents. One popular case is that of a close relative to humans, the Bonobo, where sexual touching (described by activists as infant-initiated) is part of everyday life, and intercourse is sometimes initiated by the young.

• Arguing that inequality does not necessarily mean abuse. 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."

[edit] Rind et al. controversy

Main article: Rind et al. controversy

A controversial meta-analysis of studies using college students 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 noted that a significant percentage reported their reactions to sex abuse as positive in the short term and concludes that for research purposes some cases of child sex abuse would be better labeled "adult-child sex". The article stated in the addendum that "CSA does not cause intense harm on a pervasive basis regardless of gender in the college population"^{[citation needed]} , 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"^{[citation needed]}.

The paper faced multiple academic disputations, including sample bias, non-standardization of variables, statistical errors, and researchers' personal bias.^[62][63] The article's authors have published replies to these claims.

In addition to academic criticism, in 1999 Congress unanimously passed a bill stating that "sexual relations between children and adults are abusive, exploitive, and reprehensible, and should never be considered or labeled as harmless or acceptable." It condemned the study specifically on the grounds that "pedophiles and organizations, such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association, that advocate laws to permit sex between adults and children are exploiting the study to promote and justify child sexual abuse." ^[64]

Numerous pro-pedophile advocacy organizations have quoted the Rind study in support of their efforts to "lower or rescind age of consent laws", and defense attorneys have used the study to argue for minimizing harm in child sexual abuse cases. ^[9]

[edit] Criticism

Law enforcement officials and psychologists have asserted that the movement's online support groups help some 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).^[65][66][67] In an interview with KCTV5,^[68] Phill Kline, Kansas Attorney General, characterized the goal of certain pedophile activists to change age-of-consent laws as "twisted." Some psychologists consider various positions of the movement to be the “cognitive distortions” characteristic of sexual abusers.^[69]

For example, in August 2006, The New York Times published the results of a four-month investigation of online pedophile communications and activities.^[70] 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."

NAMBLA and Martijn have asserted that they do not support child abuse or illegal activity. ^[53][71]

[edit] Criminal cases publicly linked to activists

[edit] Child abuse cases in relation to members of NAMBLA

Many such incidents involve members of NAMBLA, the organization most widely known to the U.S. public. Some claim that these activities are limited to members of this organization and are not representative of the larger movement.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[72]

Incidents include:

• The infiltration of NAMBLA by an FBI agent, who secretly tape-recorded discussions at annual conventions in 2003 and 2004, resulting ultimately in arrests of members for planning a sex tourism vacation. Within half an hour of meeting the FBI agent at the 2004 convention, a NAMBLA member expressed frustration at the group's political agenda. 'I don't know who's lying to who or if ... they're lying to themselves and saying, 'This is all political. This is all to change society,'" Mayer said of conference organizers in the tape-recorded conversation. "[Expletive], it's like, bring on the boys."[7]

• The parents of a murdered 10-year old boy filed a $200 million wrongful death suit against NAMBLA, Curley v. NAMBLA, claiming that while being heterosexual, "immediately prior" to his crime, the murderer - Charles Jaynes "accessed NAMBLA's Web site at the Boston Public Library".^[73] By 2005, $1 million and five years had been spent to prove this claim.^[74] The ACLU protested against associating NAMBLA with this case and represented them, asking the case to be dismissed.^[75][76] In April, 2008, the case was dropped because of a lack of witnesses for the prosecution. According to an attorney for the ACLU, "There was never any evidence that NAMBLA was connected to the death of Jeffrey Curley".^[77] Charles Jaynes was originally convicted of murdering a 10-year-old boy then having intercourse with his body in 1997;^[78]

• 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.^[79]

• 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.^[80][81]

[edit] Criminal cases in relation to other pedophile activists

• 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 old boy in 1987.^[82]

• American James P. Finn III was arrested in July 2007 for possession of child pornography on his computer after he was spotted by members of Perverted-Justice openly espousing pedophilia in online chat rooms.^[83] In 1998, James Finn III ("Jimf3") was the webmaster of one of the oldest pro-pedophile activism online sites, BoyChat, for 18 months.^[84]. Finn had previously claimed to the media on several occasions that BoyChat was not a breeding ground for child pornography or other illegal activities. "I have been active on BoyChat for over two years and I've been the webmaster for about 18 months and I've never known such activities to go on," he says. "First, BoyChat strictly enforces rules against such picture trading and against meeting boys. Not only do I and other administrators watch out for this, a very large cadre of regular posters are careful to warn newcomers about the realities of the board".^[85]

[edit] See also

• Age of consent reform
• Age disparity in sexual relationships
• Anti-pedophile activism
• Child sexual abuse
• Pedophilia
• Sexual Morality and the Law

[edit] Advocate groups Danish Pedophile Association (or DPA Gruppe 04) Dutch Society for Sexual Reform Krumme 13 North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) Paedophile Information Exchange Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid & Diversiteit René Guyon Society Vereniging MARTIJN

[edit] Opponent groups National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Nationale Alliantie News of the World Perverted-Justice RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network)[86] Redwatch[87] UN Special Rapporteur (child exploitation) Stop Martijn[88]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] Notes

v • d • e Sexual ethics List of topics in sexual ethics Age of consent Africa  · Asia  · Oceania  · Europe  · North America  · Central America  · South America Child sexuality Child pornography  · Child prostitution  · Child marriage Adolescent sexuality Teenage pregnancy  · Sex education  · Virginity pledge  · Adolescent sexual behavior (United States  · India) Human sexuality Incest  · Sexual orientation  · Adultery  · Miscegenation (interracial relations) Sexual abuse Sexual harassment  · Rape  · Statutory rape  · Child sexual abuse  · Child-on-child sexual abuse Sex and the law Age of consent reform  · Anti-pedophile activism  · Pro-pedophile activism  · Prostitution  · Zoosexuality law (bestiality)  · Sodomy law