Disclaimer: like most pedophiles, I have never approached a child with anything sexual or otherwise inapporpriate, and I don’t plan ever to do so. I recognize the harm in such actions, and I don’t want to hurt the very people I love. If you expect AMA with a child molester, this ain’t it.
The account is a throwaway, hope you’ll understand this decision given the sensitivity of the topic.
Edit: Thank you for keeping civil and genuine in your questions. I did envision hostility, yet here you are, amazing as always. Lemmy is a wonderful place to be, thanks to you all!
Edit 2: Apparently we have another brave pedophile here in the comments, and he came with a good note I should include in the post: if you find yourself attracted to minors, that’s okay. Acting on your desires is dangerous, but having them isn’t. If you’d like to have some support and/or community that would help you get your bearings or just listen without any prejudice (we’re all in the same boat), there are places that can help you. Visit VirPed (18+) or MAP Support Club (13+; scroll down for details), or refer to other resources through the MAP Resources website.
I don’t know but I think there is very little “help” or prevention for pedophilia and plenty of persecution and prosecution. Do you think that should change? How should it change? Should someone like yourself be able to find help to not commit pedophilia and if so what should that look like?
ETA: Sorry I misused some words. I’m not very knowledgeable about this topic and defer to those who are.
Pedophilia is the feeling. Abuse of a minor is the action. It’s important to keep them separate.
It absolutely should!
We absolutely need more therapy programs for minor-attracted people, more of the competent therapists, less social stigma (and please, stop calling child molesters pedophiles and child abuse pedophilia, that’s not helpful and not true!), and probably softer reporting laws, too.
For example, reporting past offences may bring more harm than good, scaring off those who want to change. Similar with the consumption of CSAM - it is bad, but reporting it leads to people not being able to talk about it directly, which hurts prevention efforts, exacerbating the issue. Etc.
Hi there, I’m also a pedophile. What does “committing pedophilia” look like? Pedophilia is an unchosen attraction to children. Child molestation/abuse is something that some pedophiles (and also non-pedophiles) do. I’m assuming you are talking about committing abuse. Many of us don’t struggle with not abusing children, but we do struggle with internalized societal hatred. Imagine if you woke up tomorrow and realized you were a pedophile. You’d feel like the world was ending, I imagine. We need more free resources like Germany’s Project Dunkelfeld. If pedophiles can feel free to reach out for help they are at reduced risk of harming themselves or others.