An injustice is being done to group of people that has had no media coverage. There are understandable reasons for this lack of support, mainly that the group in question is universally despised. This however is rather besides the point as injustices proliferate. Obvious injustices should not be ignored as they can only damage society in the long run. Social acceptance of an injustice targeted at villain figures will give the impression that one can excuse an injustice. This in turn will lead to people using ever more tenuous excuses for unjust behaviour. Logically there is no reason why anyone should speak out against the injustice that I intend to. People outside the group have no incentive to do anything and those within the group have a huge incentive to keep others from knowing they belong to the group.
The group I am speaking about is paedophiles and the injustice they are subject to is the assumption that they are all child molesters. The term paedophile and child molester are basically synonymous in modern society yet they have very different meanings. The former is a person who is attracted to minors and the latter is someone who sexually abuses them. We do not assume all straight men rape women so why make the same leap of logic when considering paedophiles? It is generally accepted that we do not choose our sexuality, it is unknown if it is a genetic effect or the result of upbringing but that is beside the point. Even if for some reason paedophiles were somehow different and able to make a choice regarding their sexuality I would guess that none would chose to be inclined that way for fairly obvious reasons. As such it would be fair to conclude that no paedophiles made the choice to be that way and should not be regarded as criminals or villains or social outcasts. I pity the person who is so unfortunate to be attracted to people who cannot reciprocate the desires. Their plight reminds me somewhat of king Midas and his isolation.
Certainly, as with rapists, any person who sexually abuses another should be treated as a dangerous criminal and punished accordingly. Crimes of this nature are the only ones I could consider corporal punishment being appropriate for. Where a violent rape occurs and can be proved beyond a doubt a castration of the perpetrator may be a reasonable course of action. Despite the public outcry at Ken Clarke's claim that different rapes are of differing severity I would have to agree and none more so than when a minor is concerned. The distinction is hard to draw in some cases as I see little problem with a 15 year old and a 14 year old doing what they want with each other if they are consenting. If one widens the age gap at all it very quickly becomes very unacceptable and when trying to draw a line between what is just youths experimenting and what is taking advantage of minors, one can see why as a society we tend to err on the side of cation in this regard. Consent is the main consideration in the borderline cases but we are going off point rather. I mainly wished to clearly assert my view on rape as one of the most severe crimes and what I believe to constitute it so as I may continue to distinguish between paedophiles, child molesters and just kids experimenting while growing up.
As ever we find we are looking for solutions to problems in society. Obviously paedophiles cannot be allowed to have relations with minors. Perhaps in some far away future when we can reverse the effects of ageing I would not have a problem if an adult wished to change their appearance to that of a child and have a relationship with an adult but that is pretty irrelevant to any current discussion on the matter. The problem faced by society is how to minimise the chance that any given paedophile becomes a child molester. My argument for writing this essay is that more just treatment of paedophiles would reduce the chance that they might become child molesters. It seems pretty clear that if someone feels rejected by the rest of society they are unlikely to respect it's rules or have much empathy towards others and so would be more inclined to criminal and immoral behaviour.
Another factor that may contribute to turning some paedophiles in to child molesters is the lack of an outlet for sexual release. As previously mentioned, this cannot be provided in the manner they may desire most but some potentially helpful provisions could be made. As a society should we not accept that paedophiles do exist and that it is not their fault and so we should help them, both so that they may lead happier lives but also so they do not cause any harm to others? Any honest man will concede that sexual release does not require more than one person, most make do with that when unable to find others that are willing. The imagination is a powerful tool but it requires a degree of things to work with, presently such things for paedophiles are rightly illegal as they contribute to child abuse. I have heard suggestions of legalised images that are provided in a capacity similar to medicine. These could simply be pictures adults donate of themselves as minors, donated rather like giving blood. This method gets around consent and abuse issues which are the social concerns. The idea may be unpleasant in many respects but it is the the lesser of the available evils in this particular issue.
While there may be many good ideas that help to solve some of the problems faced by paedophiles that relate directly to the sexual side of the problem I think the social aspect is a bigger concern. The previous example was given to illustrate the kinds of approach that could be used when dealing with the unfortunate sexual issues. The social side of the problem is regarding the integration of people in to society. We need to get to a stage as a society where someone being a paedophile is not stigmatised for it. I cannot even give a specific example for a comparison for fear of offending due to current levels of social stigma surrounding this topic. By creating an environment in which paedophiles can socialise and discuss their problems and feelings openly without fear of reprisal I am sure you would significantly reduce the number of child molesters found in the society. You may even be able to reduce the number of paedophiles in the society too due to results from social and psychological studies that cannot really be carried out in the current environment as no one would offer themselves up as a paedophile.
All child molesters are paedophiles but not all paedophiles are child molesters. Our hatred for the child molester and our associations for the two terms have made an already afflicted section of society one of the biggest witch hunts of recent years. I am sure they appreciate the rise of terrorism as it has taken the centre stage as public enemy number one! Regardless of this they are still hated and society does itself a disservice with this hate. In times when these issues were not so heavily demonised in the media we can find examples such as Lord Baden Powell who were reasonably obvious paedophiles (allegedly, as if getting sued by a dead man is my main concern after writing this!) that contributed heavily to society without reports of abuse. The achievements of Lord Baden Powell would not be possible in the current social climate. Changing the social climate is likely to be a slow process as the concept is so alien and repulsive. The more we struggle to appreciate the mentality the more we are able to hate, suicide bombers providing a good example comparison again here. The hatred is strong, and understandably so, but that makes it all the more important to push forward with social education and advancement.
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