Paedophilia is medically defined as the sexual and emotional orientation towards children before the onset of puberty, i.e. roughly speaking towards under 13-year-olds. The term only describes the preference for children, i.e. thoughts and feelings but not actions. It is a medical-scientific term, not a legal one. In particular, the term paedophilia does not refer to the sexual abuse of children. More information on this can be found in the Explanation of terms and in much more detail under ‘What is paedophilia?’.
Generally speaking: No.
A paedophile preference includes everything that is also found in the preference for adults and is just as diverse: emotional attraction, sexual fantasies and desires, admiration, the desire for closeness and togetherness, protective instincts, etc. As with other sexual orientations, these elements are weighted differently for each individual paedophile: some paedophiles only find children sexually attractive, others only desire emotional closeness without having any desire for sexual intimacy. For most people, both elements are present to a certain extent. More on this here.
No. First of all, being a paedophile only means having sexual desires towards children. It does not mean that you want to act on these desires. Many paedophiles decide not to live out their sexuality with children for a variety of reasons.
No. Various studies show that significantly less than half of all child abuse offenders have paedophilic tendencies (figures range from only 10% to a maximum of 40%). The majority of those who sexually abuse children are sexually orientated towards adults and abuse children because they want to exert power over someone who is unable to defend themselves. They are also referred to as ‘substitute offenders’, as they use sexual abuse as a substitute to satisfy other needs.
No. Above all, about a third of paedophiles only find boys sexually attractive, another third only girls and only the remaining third find both sexes sexually attractive. They then differ in terms of age (or [body type](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanner-Stadien?target=_blank ‘Wikipedia: Tanner stages")) of the children they find attractive. And just as a heterosexual man is not attracted to all women but finds certain things about women particularly attractive or even repulsive, paedophiles find different children of their preference differently attractive or many do not find them at all.
There is no method with which a heterosexual or homosexual tendency can be changed in a targeted, permanent and reliable way. Paedophilia is no different. You can only learn to deal with the associated feelings and integrate them into your life in such a way that they are not perceived as a burden. Manche behaupten das jedoch, eine Paraphilie wegtherapieren zu können, aber nach unseren Beobachtungen sind ihre Argumentationen und Schlussfolgerungen grundlegend fehlerhaft. Und die Methoden zweifelhaft bis schädlich. Mehr Details dazu finden Sie demnächst im Bereich „Hilfreiches“.
We don’t know what exactly causes someone to develop certain sexual preferences. Most scientists today assume that it is a mixture of innate factors and environmental influences. But one thing is certain: a pedophilia is not something that someone consciously chooses. No one can do anything about being sexually addressed by children.
It is estimated that between 0.5% and 5% of the total population have pedophile tendencies. These estimates vary so much, as the research has so far often only been done on offenders (and is therefore rarely representative) and the studies sometimes handle differently when exactly they classify someone as a “pedophile”. Statistically, this means that every person should also know at least one pedophile in their own environment, without noticing this.
Ja! Eine Pädophilie kann genauso bei Frauen auftreten wie auch bei Männern. Dies ist aber leider bisher viel weniger erforscht. Die Erfahrungen, die wir als Team über die Jahre mit Frauen gesammelt haben, die sich selbst als pädophil identifizieren, zeigen keine merklichen Unterschiede zu der Pädophilie beim männlichen Geschlecht oder bei Transpersonen.
Pedophiles are basically just as capable as other people to live out their own sexual needs not to the detriment of others and to steer them into legal channels (as through masturbation to sexually stimulating fantasies). This ability is not automatically negated once you have contact with children. Conversely, many [teleiophiles] (/objective/terms #one-age) (= adult-oriented) men and women can still be sexually inexperienced in partnership even at 60, without running the risk of abusing or raping adults.
In addition, social and emotional contact with children is perceived by many pedophiles as a pillar of a happy life, while they experience sexual needs as less important. See also “Is Contact with Children Related to Legitimizing Beliefs Toward Sex with Children Among Men with Pedophilia?” (M. Geradt, S. Jahnke et al (2018) in Archives of Sexual Behavior; DOI: 10.1007/s10508-017-1042-1)
Our self-help forum Together Instead of Alone is open to anyone who seeks exchange with and support from other affected persons. Foreign-speakers can confidently contact Virtuous Pedophiles, ASAPinternational or ČEPEK.
For therapeutic support, the project Kein Täter werden is a good point of contact. You can find more detailed information about contacts / help offers in the category “Useful Infos” under “Where can I find help?” and “Similar platforms”.
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