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North American Man/Boy Love Association

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113-509: The North American Man/Boy Love Association ( NAMBLA , stylized as NAMbLA ) is a pedophilia and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States. It works to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and campaigns for the release of men who have been jailed for sexual contacts with minors that did not involve what it considers coercion. The group no longer holds regular national meetings, and as of

226-521: A "contented pedophile"—an individual who fantasizes about having sex with a child and masturbates to these fantasies, but does not commit child sexual abuse, and who does not feel subjectively distressed afterward—met the DSM-IV-TR criteria for pedophilia since this person did not meet criterion B. Criticism also concerned someone who met criterion B, but did not meet criterion A. A large-scale survey about usage of different classification systems showed that

339-536: A "sex ring"; Byrne said the arrest was "the tip of the iceberg". Commenting on this issue, Boston magazine described NAMBLA as "the most despised group of men in America", which was "founded mostly by eccentric, boy-loving leftists". The "Boston-Boise Committee", a gay rights organization, was formed in response to these events (which they termed the "Boston witch-hunt"), allegedly in order to promote solidarity amongst gay men, saying in an official leaflet that: "The closet

452-605: A 'paraphilia,' not a 'sexual orientation.' This error will be corrected in the electronic version of DSM-5 and the next printing of the manual." They said they strongly support efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents, and "also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse." Studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders often report that it co-occurs with other psychopathologies , such as low self-esteem , depression, anxiety, and personality problems. It

565-652: A U.S. study on 2429 adult male sex offenders who were categorized as "pedophiles", only 7% identified themselves as exclusive; indicating that many or most child sexual abusers may fall into the non-exclusive category. Some pedophiles do not molest children. Little is known about this population because most studies of pedophilia use criminal or clinical samples, which may not be representative of pedophiles in general. Researcher Michael Seto suggests that pedophiles who commit child sexual abuse do so because of other anti-social traits in addition to their sexual attraction. He states that pedophiles who are "reflective, sensitive to

678-531: A conduit for an underground network of pedophiles in the United States who use their NAMBLA association and contacts therein and the Internet to obtain and promote pedophile activity". Jaynes wrote in his diary, "This was a turning point in discovery of myself ... NAMBLA's Bulletin helped me to become aware of my own sexuality and acceptance of it ... ". Citing cases in which NAMBLA members were convicted of sexual offenses against children, Larry Frisoli,

791-408: A continuum according to strength and exclusivity of pedophilic interest, and motivation for the offense (see child sexual offender types ). Exclusive pedophiles are sometimes referred to as true pedophiles. They are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, and only prepubescent children. Showing no erotic interest in adults, they can only become sexually aroused while fantasizing about or being in

904-528: A diagnosable mental disorder under the DSM-5 to resolve the physical development overlap between pedophilia and hebephilia by combining the categories under pedophilic disorder , but with specifiers on which age range (or both) is the primary interest. The proposal for hebephilia was rejected by the American Psychiatric Association, but the distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder

1017-509: A disorder of sexual preference, phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual orientation. These observations, however, do not exclude pedophilia from being classified as a mental disorder since pedophilic acts cause harm, and mental health professionals can sometimes help pedophiles to refrain from harming children. In response to misinterpretations that the American Psychiatric Association considers pedophilia

1130-484: A disturbance in the prefrontal networks, which "may be associated with stimulus-controlled behaviours, such as sexual compulsive behaviours". The findings may also suggest "a dysfunction at the cognitive stage of sexual arousal processing". Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud (2006) reviewed the research that attempted to identify hormonal aspects of pedophiles. They concluded that there is some evidence that pedophilic men have less testosterone than controls, but that

1243-579: A free speech matter; it won a dismissal because NAMBLA is organized as an unincorporated association rather than a corporation. John Reinstein, director of the ACLU Massachusetts, said although NAMBLA "may extol conduct which is currently illegal", there was nothing on its website that "advocated or incited the commission of any illegal acts, including murder or rape". A NAMBLA founder said the case would "break our backs, even if we win, which we will". Media reports from 2006 said that for practical purposes

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1356-540: A handful of people, with many members joining online pedophile networks, according to Xavier Von Erck, director of operations at the anti-pedophile organization Perverted-Justice . As of 2005, a newspaper report stated that NAMBLA was based in New York and San Francisco. Events such as Anita Bryant 's 1977 " Save Our Children " campaign and a police raid of a Toronto -area newspaper, The Body Politic , for publishing an article by Gerald Hannon sympathetic to "boy-love" set

1469-546: A larger number of victims who are frequently extrafamilial; are more inwardly driven to offend; and have values or beliefs that strongly support an offense lifestyle. One study found that pedophilic molesters had a median of 1.3 victims for those with girl victims and 4.4 for those with boy victims. Child molesters, pedophilic or not, employ a variety of methods to gain sexual access to children. Some groom their victims into compliance with attention and gifts, while others use threats, alcohol or drugs, or physical force. Pedophilia

1582-616: A little humanity". He appeared in Chicken Hawk: Men Who Love Boys , produced and directed by Adi Sideman, a documentary in which members of NAMBLA gave interviews and presented defenses of the organization. Pat Califia argued that politics played an important role in the gay community's rejection of NAMBLA. Califia has since withdrawn much of his earlier support for the association while still maintaining that discussing an issue does not constitute criminal activity. Camille Paglia , feminist academic and social critic, signed

1695-547: A long-term change in sexual preference. Michael Seto suggests that attempts to cure pedophilia in adulthood are unlikely to succeed because its development is influenced by prenatal factors. Pedophilia appears to be difficult to alter but pedophiles can be helped to control their behavior, and future research could develop a method of prevention. There are several common limitations to studies of treatment effectiveness. Most categorize their participants by behavior rather than erotic age preference, which makes it difficult to know

1808-436: A male child are not true pedophilia and that, in his observation, victims of such men tended to be older and pubescent. He also lists pseudopaedophilia as a related condition wherein "individuals who have lost libido for the adult through masturbation and subsequently turn to children for the gratification of their sexual appetite" and claimed this is much more common. Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud briefly wrote about

1921-415: A manifesto supporting the group in 1993. In 1994, Paglia supported lowering the legal age of consent to fourteen. She noted in a 1995 interview with pro-pedophile activist Bill Andriette "I fail to see what is wrong with erotic fondling with any age." In a 1997 Salon column, Paglia expressed the view that male pedophilia correlates with the heights of a civilization, stating "I have repeatedly protested

2034-498: A more appropriate object. In 1908, Swiss neuroanatomist and psychiatrist Auguste Forel wrote of the phenomenon, proposing that it be referred to it as "Pederosis", the "Sexual Appetite for Children". Similar to Krafft-Ebing's work, Forel made the distinction between incidental sexual abuse by persons with dementia and other organic brain conditions, and the truly preferential and sometimes exclusive sexual desire for children. However, he disagreed with Krafft-Ebing in that he felt

2147-548: A normal IQ. Another study, using structural MRI , indicated that male pedophiles have a lower volume of white matter than a control group . Functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI ) has indicated that child molesters diagnosed with pedophilia have reduced activation of the hypothalamus as compared with non-pedophilic persons when viewing sexually arousing pictures of adults. A 2008 functional neuroimaging study notes that central processing of sexual stimuli in heterosexual "paedophile forensic inpatients" may be altered by

2260-448: A person who acts upon these urges yet experiences no distress about their fantasies or urges can also qualify for the diagnosis. Acting on sexual urges is not limited to overt sex acts for purposes of this diagnosis, and can sometimes include indecent exposure , voyeuristic or frotteuristic behaviors. The ICD-11 also considers planning or seeking to engage in these behaviors, as well as the use of child pornography , to be evidence of

2373-461: A priest under him had been on the board of MARTIJN until the Van den Berg raids. He added, "Of course we reject this and distance ourselves from this personal initiative." RTL obtained interviews both with Spronck and the priest (73-year-old "Father Van B.") in which the two defended adult-child sex as not always damaging. The priest concerned had prior convictions for child sexual abuse . The provincial for

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2486-412: A primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children, and many pedophiles do not molest children. Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are also women who exhibit the disorder, and researchers assume available estimates underrepresent

2599-452: A pro-pedophilia banner showing logos from NAMBLA and some leftist organizations (all denying knowledge of any such cooperation). Fact-checking organizations consider this a false flag operation as alt-right personalities were quick to repost the photo without caveat and because NAMBLA had largely ceased operation by 2016. A similar 4chan hoax in 2018 connected NAMBLA with TED , following a controversial TEDx presentation—notably unvetted by

2712-531: A representative, community sample of pedophiles. Seto (2004) points out that pedophiles who are available from a clinical setting are likely there because of distress over their sexual preference or pressure from others. This increases the likelihood that they will show psychological problems. Similarly, pedophiles recruited from a correctional setting have been convicted of a crime, making it more likely that they will show anti-social characteristics. Impaired self-concept and interpersonal functioning were reported in

2825-420: A role in deviant attractions. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) states, "The diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder are intended to apply both to individuals who freely disclose this paraphilia and to individuals who deny any sexual attraction to prepubertal children (generally age 13 years or younger), despite substantial objective evidence to

2938-552: A sample of child sex offenders who met the diagnostic criteria for pedophilia by Cohen et al. (2002), which the authors suggested could contribute to motivation for pedophilic acts. The pedophilic offenders in the study had elevated psychopathy and cognitive distortions compared to healthy community controls. This was interpreted as underlying their failure to inhibit their criminal behavior. Studies in 2009 and 2012 found that non-pedophilic child sex offenders exhibited psychopathy, but pedophiles did not. Wilson and Cox (1983) studied

3051-491: A sexual orientation because of wording in its printed DSM-5 manual, which distinguishes between paraphilia and what it calls "paraphilic disorder", subsequently forming a division of "pedophilia" and "pedophilic disorder", the association commented: "'[S]exual orientation' is not a term used in the diagnostic criteria for pedophilic disorder and its use in the DSM-5 text discussion is an error and should read 'sexual interest.'" They added, "In fact, APA considers pedophilic disorder

3164-483: A sign proclaiming "NAMBLA walks with me" as he participated in a 1986 gay pride march in Los Angeles. By the mid-1980s, NAMBLA was virtually alone in its positions and found itself politically isolated. Support for "groups perceived as being on the fringe of the gay community," such as NAMBLA, vanished in the process. In 1994, Stonewall 25, a New York LGBT rights group, voted to ban NAMBLA from its international march on

3277-504: A teacher was fired for his association with NAMBLA. There were no criminal charges or complaints about his conduct in class. In April 2013, the hacktivist group Anonymous prevented NAMBLA's website from being accessed as part of an operation dubbed "Operation Alice Day". The timing of the attack coincided with Alice Day, a Pedophilia Pride Day celebrated by a small group of pedophiles and their supporters on April 25. Pedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia )

3390-479: A typology of "psycho-sexual perversion". He wrote that he had only encountered it four times in his career and gave brief descriptions of each case, listing three common traits: He mentions several cases of pedophilia among adult women (provided by another physician), and also considered the abuse of boys by homosexual men to be extremely rare. Further clarifying this point, he indicated that cases of adult men who have some medical or neurological disorder and abuse

3503-621: A variety of purposes, ranging from private sexual gratification or trading with other collectors, to preparing children for sexual abuse as part of the child grooming process. Pedophilic viewers of child pornography are often obsessive about collecting, organizing, categorizing, and labeling their child pornography collection according to age, gender, sex act and fantasy. According to FBI agent Ken Lanning, "collecting" pornography does not mean that they merely view pornography, but that they save it, and "it comes to define, fuel, and validate their most cherished sexual fantasies". Lanning states that

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3616-712: A variety of referral sources inside and outside the criminal justice system as well as controls , these studies found associations between pedophilia and lower IQs , poorer scores on memory tests, greater rates of non-right-handedness, greater rates of school grade failure over and above the IQ differences, being below average height, greater probability of having had childhood head injuries resulting in unconsciousness, and several differences in MRI -detected brain structures. Such studies suggest that there are one or more neurological characteristics present at birth that cause or increase

3729-483: Is a paraphilia . In recent versions of formal diagnostic coding systems such as the DSM-5 and ICD-11 , "pedophilia" is distinguished from "pedophilic disorder." Pedophilic disorder is defined as a pattern of pedophilic arousal accompanied by either subjective distress or interpersonal difficulty, or having acted on that arousal. The DSM-5 requires that a person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than

3842-449: Is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12, psychiatric diagnostic criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13. People with the disorder are often referred to as pedophiles (or paedophiles ). Pedophilia

3955-584: Is believed to have occurred in humans throughout history. The term paedophilie (in German) has been used since the late 1830s by researchers of pederasty in ancient Greece . The term "paedophilia erotica" was coined in an 1896 article by the Viennese psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing but does not enter the author's Psychopathia Sexualis until the 10th German edition. A number of authors anticipated Krafft-Ebing's diagnostic gesture. In Psychopathia Sexualis ,

4068-501: Is commonly used by the public to describe all child sexual abuse offenders. This usage is considered problematic by researchers, because many child molesters do not have a strong sexual interest in prepubescent children, and are consequently not pedophiles. There are motives for child sexual abuse that are unrelated to pedophilia, such as stress, marital problems, the unavailability of an adult partner, general anti-social tendencies, high sex drive or alcohol use. As child sexual abuse

4181-418: Is distressed as a result of having these feelings. The criteria also indicate that the subject should be 16 or older and that the child or children they fantasize about are at least five years younger than them, though ongoing sexual relationships between a 12- to 13-year-old and a late adolescent are advised to be excluded. A diagnosis is further specified by the sex of the children the person is attracted to, if

4294-733: Is mixed. A 2012 Cochrane Review of randomized trials found that CBT had no effect on risk of reoffending for contact sex offenders. Meta-analyses in 2002 and 2005, which included both randomized and non-randomized studies, concluded that CBT reduced recidivism. There is debate over whether non-randomized studies should be considered informative. More research is needed. Behavioral treatments target sexual arousal to children, using satiation and aversion techniques to suppress sexual arousal to children and covert sensitization (or masturbatory reconditioning) to increase sexual arousal to adults. Behavioral treatments appear to have an effect on sexual arousal patterns during phallometric testing, but it

4407-548: Is more likely. A study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 heterosexual men by using the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire exam determined that males with a pronounced degree of paraphilic interest (including pedophilia) had a greater number of older brothers, a high 2D:4D digit ratio (which would indicate low prenatal androgen exposure), and an elevated probability of being left-handed , suggesting that disturbed hemispheric brain lateralization may play

4520-682: Is more limited and mostly based on open trials and case studies. All of these treatments, commonly referred to as " chemical castration ", are often used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy. According to the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers , when treating child molesters, "anti-androgen treatment should be coupled with appropriate monitoring and counseling within a comprehensive treatment plan." These drugs may have side-effects, such as weight gain, breast development, liver damage and osteoporosis. Historically, surgical castration

4633-463: Is not a legal term, as having a sexual attraction to children without acting on it is not illegal. In law enforcement circles, the term pedophile is sometimes used informally to refer to any person who commits one or more sexually-based crimes that relate to legally underage victims. These crimes may include child sexual abuse , statutory rape , offenses involving child pornography , child grooming , stalking , and indecent exposure . One unit of

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4746-475: Is not automatically an indicator that its perpetrator is a pedophile, offenders can be separated into two types: pedophilic and non-pedophilic (or preferential and situational). Estimates for the rate of pedophilia in detected child molesters generally range between 25% and 50%. A 2006 study found that 35% of its sample of child molesters were pedophilic. Pedophilia appears to be less common in incest offenders, especially fathers and step-fathers. According to

4859-410: Is not clear whether these are features of the disorder itself, artifacts of sampling bias , or consequences of being identified as a sex offender. One review of the literature concluded that research on personality correlates and psychopathology in pedophiles is rarely methodologically correct, in part owing to confusion between pedophiles and child sex offenders, as well as the difficulty of obtaining

4972-490: Is not known whether the effect represents changes in sexual interests or changes in the ability to control genital arousal during testing, nor whether the effect persists in the long term. For sex offenders with mental disabilities, applied behavior analysis has been used. Pharmacological interventions are used to lower the sex drive in general, which can ease the management of pedophilic feelings, but does not change sexual preference. Antiandrogens work by interfering with

5085-427: Is not specified in hard numbers and instead requires careful consideration of the situation. There was discussion on the DSM-IV-TR being overinclusive and underinclusive. Its criterion A concerns sexual fantasies or sexual urges regarding prepubescent children, and its criterion B concerns acting on those urges or the urges causing marked distress or interpersonal difficulty. Several researchers discussed whether or not

5198-432: Is obviously disputed, at what point that should be. I used to think that fourteen (the way it is in some places in the world) was adequate. I no longer think that. I think young people need greater protection than that. ... This is one of those areas that we must confine to the realm of imagination and the history of the arts." In a 2017 protest at Columbia University against Mike Cernovich , an unidentified individual raised

5311-476: Is rarely used in academic sources. Hebephilia is defined as individuals with a primary or exclusive sexual interest in 11- to 14-year-old pubescents. The DSM-5 does not list hebephilia among the diagnoses. While evidence suggests that hebephilia is separate from pedophilia, the ICD-10 includes early pubertal age (an aspect of hebephilia) in its pedophilia definition, covering the physical development overlap between

5424-475: Is weak. There is strength in unity and openness." NAMBLA's founding was inspired by this organization. It was co-founded by gay-rights activist and socialist David Thorstad . In 1982, a NAMBLA member was falsely linked to the disappearance of Etan Patz . Although the accusation was groundless, the negative publicity was disastrous to the organization. NAMBLA published a book A Witchhunt Foiled: The FBI vs. NAMBLA , which documented these events. In testimony before

5537-616: The Actiecomité Stop MARTIJN (Action Committee Stop MARTIJN), which organized demonstrations against them. Formed and led by Michiel Smit of the New Right , Florens van der Kooi of the NNP , as well as Inge Bleecke of Moeders tegen Pedofilie (Mothers against Pedophilia), the committee was labelled as extreme right by their opponents. The organization was in the news in October 2007 when it

5650-517: The Greek παῖς, παιδός ( paîs, paidós ), meaning ' child ' , and φιλία ( philía ), ' friendly love ' or ' friendship ' . The term paedophilie (in German) started being used in the 1830s among researchers of pederasty in Ancient Greece . It was further used in the field of forensics after the 1890's, following Richard von Krafft-Ebing 's coinage of the term paedophilia erotica in

5763-769: The United Nations in June of that year. The same year, NAMBLA was again banned from the march commemorating Stonewall. Instead, members of NAMBLA and the Gay Liberation Front formed their own competing march called "The Spirit of Stonewall". The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) adopted a document called "Position Statement Regarding NAMBLA", which said GLAAD "deplores the North American Man Boy Love Association's (NAMBLA) goals, which include advocacy for sex between adult men and boys and

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5876-565: The 1896 edition of Psychopathia Sexualis . Krafft-Ebing was the first researcher to use the term pedophilia to refer to a pattern of sexual attraction toward children who had not yet reached puberty, excluding pubescent minors from the pedophilic age range. In 1895, the English word pedophily was used as a translation of the German word pädophilie . The term pedophilia was hardly used by 1945, but started appearing in medical records after 1950. By

5989-559: The 1950s and throughout the 1980s, the word pedophilia started being increasingly used by the popular media. Infantophilia (or nepiophilia ) is a sub-type of pedophilia; it is used to refer to a sexual preference for children under the age of 5 (especially infants and toddlers ). This is sometimes referred to as nepiophilia (from the Greek νήπιος ( népios ) meaning ' infant ' or ' child ' , which in turn derives from ne- and epos meaning ' not speaking ' ), though this term

6102-448: The APA, as it would only apply to a tiny minority of commitments, as well as deny help-seeking pedophiles access to clinical care due to not having an official diagnosis for insurance purposes. In practice, the patient's behaviors need to be considered in-context with an element of clinical judgment before a diagnosis is made. Likewise, when the patient is in late adolescence, the age difference

6215-441: The American Psychiatric Association's approach in 1997 and instead recommended the use of actions as the sole criterion for the diagnosis of pedophilia, as a means of taxonomic simplification. There is no evidence that pedophilia can be cured. Instead, most therapies focus on helping pedophiles refrain from acting on their desires. Some therapies do attempt to cure pedophilia, but there are no studies showing that they result in

6328-541: The DSM classification is only rarely used. As an explanation, it was suggested that the underinclusiveness, as well as a lack of validity, reliability and clarity might have led to the rejection of the DSM classification. Ray Blanchard , an American-Canadian sexologist known for his research studies on pedophilia, addressed (in his literature review for the DSM-5) the objections to the overinclusiveness and under underinclusiveness of

6441-454: The DSM-IV-TR, and proposed a general solution applicable to all paraphilias. This meant namely a distinction between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder . The latter term is proposed to identify the diagnosable mental disorder which meets Criterion A and B, whereas an individual who does not meet Criterion B can be ascertained but not diagnosed as having a paraphilia. Blanchard and a number of his colleagues also proposed that hebephilia become

6554-655: The NAMBLA situation, Gregory King of the Human Rights Campaign later said, "NAMBLA is not a gay organization ... they are not part of our community and we thoroughly reject their efforts to insinuate that pedophilia is an issue related to gay and lesbian civil rights". NAMBLA said, "man/boy love is by definition homosexual", that "the Western homosexual tradition from Socrates to Wilde to Gide ... [and] many non Western homo sexualities from New Guinea and Persia to

6667-549: The Salesians, Jos Claes, opened disciplinary procedures against Spronck. On 18 June 2011, the Ministry of Security and Justice announced that the association's activities were not illegal. Crimes committed by its members could not be attributed to the association and as such the organisation could not be prosecuted, banned or disbanded. On 27 June 2012, a Dutch court in Assen ruled that

6780-511: The TED organization—referring to pedophilia as an "unchangeable sexual orientation". The first documented opposition to NAMBLA from LGBT organizations occurred at the conference that organized the first gay march on Washington in 1979 . In 1980, a group called the Lesbian Caucus distributed a flyer urging women to split from the annual New York City Gay Pride March , because according to the group,

6893-623: The Treatment of Sexual Abusers opposes surgical castration and the Council of Europe works to bring the practice to an end in Eastern European countries where it is still applied through the courts. The prevalence of pedophilia in the general population is not known, but is estimated to be lower than 5% among adult men. Less is known about the prevalence of pedophilia in women, but there are case reports of women with strong sexual fantasies and urges towards children. Male perpetrators account for

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7006-673: The United Kingdom's Child Abuse Investigation Command is known as the " Paedophile Unit " and specializes in online investigations and enforcement work. Some forensic science texts, such as Holmes (2008), use the term to refer to offenders who target child victims, even when such children are not the primary sexual interest of the offender. FBI agent Kenneth Lanning, however, makes a point of distinguishing between pedophiles and child molesters. Vereniging Martijn Vereniging Martijn ( Dutch pronunciation: [vəˈreːnəɣɪŋ mɑrˈtɛin] ; "Martijn Association"; stylized as MARTIJN )

7119-575: The United States Senate, NAMBLA was exonerated from criminal activities; it said, "It is the pedophile with no organized affiliations who is the real threat to children". Mike Echols , the author of I Know My First Name Is Steven , infiltrated NAMBLA and recorded his observations in his book, which was published in 1991. Echols published the names, addresses and telephone numbers of eighty suspected NAMBLA members on his website, which led to death threats being made to people who were not members of

7232-506: The Zulu and the Japanese" were formed by pederasty, that "man/boy lovers are part of the gay movement and central to gay history and culture", and that "homosexuals denying that it is 'not gay' to be attracted to adolescent boys are just as ludicrous as heterosexuals saying it's 'not heterosexual' to be attracted to adolescent girls". In 2000, a Boston couple, Robert and Barbara Curley, sued NAMBLA for

7345-607: The activity of testosterone. Cyproterone acetate (Androcur) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) are the most commonly used. The efficacy of antiandrogens has some support, but few high-quality studies exist. Cyproterone acetate has the strongest evidence for reducing sexual arousal, while findings on medroxyprogesterone acetate have been mixed. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs such as leuprorelin (Lupron), which last longer and have fewer side-effects, are also used to reduce libido, as are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors . The evidence for these alternatives

7458-465: The attorney representing the Curleys, said the organization is a "training ground" for adults who wish to seduce children, in which men exchange strategies to find and groom child sex partners. Frisoli also said NAMBLA has sold on its website "The Rape and Escape Manual", which gave details about the avoidance of capture and prosecution. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stepped in to defend NAMBLA as

7571-454: The attraction is a sexual preference for prepubescent children, such offenders are considered pedophiles in the same vein as exclusive offenders. Neither the DSM nor the ICD-11 diagnostic criteria require actual sexual activity with a prepubescent youth. The diagnosis can therefore be made based on the presence of fantasies or sexual urges even if they have never been acted upon. On the other hand,

7684-479: The brain, while non-offending pedophiles had no such deficits. According to Abel, Mittleman, and Becker (1985) and Ward et al. (1995), there are generally large distinctions between the characteristics of pedophilic and non-pedophilic molesters. They state that non-pedophilic offenders tend to offend at times of stress; have a later onset of offending; and have fewer, often familial, victims, while pedophilic offenders often start offending at an early age; often have

7797-444: The chapter's other listings." If hebephilia had been accepted as a DSM-5 diagnosable disorder, it would have been similar to the ICD-10 definition of pedophilia that already includes early pubescents, and would have raised the minimum age required for a person to be able to be diagnosed with pedophilia from 16 years to 18 years (with the individual needing to be at least 5 years older than the minor). O'Donohue, however, suggests that

7910-531: The characteristics of a group of pedophile club members. The most marked differences between pedophiles and controls were on the introversion scale, with pedophiles showing elevated shyness, sensitivity and depression. The pedophiles scored higher on neuroticism and psychoticism , but not enough to be considered pathological as a group. The authors caution that "there is a difficulty in untangling cause and effect. We cannot tell whether paedophiles gravitate towards children because, being highly introverted, they find

8023-516: The collection is the single best indicator of what the offender wants to do, but not necessarily of what has been or will be done. Researchers Taylor and Quayle reported that pedophilic collectors of child pornography are often involved in anonymous internet communities dedicated to extending their collections. Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, researchers began reporting a series of findings linking pedophilia with brain structure and function, beginning in 2002. Testing individuals from

8136-745: The company of children less threatening than that of adults, or whether the social withdrawal implied by their introversion is a result of the isolation engendered by their preference i.e., awareness of the social [dis]approbation and hostility that it evokes" (p. 324). In a non-clinical survey, 46% of pedophiles reported that they had seriously considered suicide for reasons related to their sexual interest, 32% planned to carry it out, and 13% had already attempted it. A review of qualitative research studies published between 1982 and 2001 concluded that child sexual abusers use cognitive distortions to meet personal needs, justifying abuse by making excuses, redefining their actions as love and mutuality, and exploiting

8249-478: The condition of the latter was largely ingrained and unchangeable. The term pedophilia became the generally accepted term for the condition and saw widespread adoption in the early 20th century, appearing in many popular medical dictionaries such as the 5th Edition of Stedman's in 1918. In 1952, it was included in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . This edition and

8362-418: The contrary." The manual outlines specific criteria for use in the diagnosis of this disorder. These include the presence of sexually arousing fantasies, behaviors or urges that involve some kind of sexual activity with a prepubescent child (with the diagnostic criteria for the disorder extending the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13) for six months or more, or that the subject has acted on these urges or

8475-854: The diagnosis. However the DSM-5-TR, in a change from the prior edition, excludes the use of child pornography alone as meeting the criteria for "acting on sexual urges." This change is controversial due to being made for legal reasons rather than scientific. According to forensic psychologist Michael C. Seto , who was part of the DSM-5-TR workgroup, the removal of child pornography use alone was to avoid diagnosing criminal defendants convicted of child pornography offenses, but no in-person offenses, with pedophilic disorder, as this could potentially lead to such defendants being committed to mental institutions under sexually violent predator laws . Seto, who has published several research studies on pedophilia and its relationship with child pornography, objected to this reasoning by

8588-517: The diagnostic criteria for pedophilia be simplified to the attraction to children alone if ascertained by self-report, laboratory findings, or past behavior. He states that any sexual attraction to children is pathological and that distress is irrelevant, noting "this sexual attraction has the potential to cause significant harm to others and is also not in the best interests of the individual." Also arguing for behavioral criteria in defining pedophilia, Howard E. Barbaree and Michael C. Seto disagreed with

8701-399: The feelings of others, averse to risk, abstain from alcohol or drug use, and endorse attitudes and beliefs supportive of norms and the laws" may be unlikely to abuse children. A 2015 study indicates that pedophiles who molested children are neurologically distinct from non-offending pedophiles. The pedophilic molesters had neurological deficits suggestive of disruptions in inhibitory regions of

8814-464: The first U.S.-based organization to be a member—as well as Vereniging Martijn and Project Truth, because they were judged to be "organizations with a predominant aim of supporting or promoting pedophilia". Although ILGA removed NAMBLA, the UN reversed its decision to grant ILGA special consultative status. Repeated attempts by ILGA to regain special status with the UN succeeded in 2006. Partially in response to

8927-448: The group no longer exists and that it consists only of a website maintained by a few enthusiasts. The Curleys continued the suit as a wrongful death action against individual NAMBLA members, some of whom were active in the group's leadership. Targets of the wrongful death suits included NAMBLA co-founder David Thorstad. The lawsuit was dropped in April 2008 after a judge ruled that a key witness

9040-510: The group published OK Magazine , available only through the mail and not in shops, featuring essays, letters, interviews and photographs of scantily clad or naked children, mostly boys. MARTIJN was expelled from the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 1994. The group was seen as "widely reviled" though Dutch prosecutors initially formed the view that it could not be prosecuted. In 2003, Vereniging MARTIJN faced opposition by

9153-424: The group was illegal and ordered the group to cease activities and disband immediately. The judge stated that the group's actions and statements regarding sexual contact between adults and children were in conflict with the accepted norms and values of Dutch society. In his statement, the judge emphasised the overriding need to protect children. However, in April 2013, a higher court overturned this decision, upholding

9266-768: The impulses or acts are limited to incest , and if the attraction is "exclusive" or "nonexclusive". The ICD-11 defines pedophilic disorder as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children." It also states that for a diagnosis of pedophilic disorder, "the individual must have acted on these thoughts, fantasies or urges or be markedly distressed by them. This diagnosis does not apply to sexual behaviours among pre- or post-pubertal children with peers who are close in age." Several terms have been used to distinguish "true pedophiles" from non-pedophilic and non-exclusive offenders, or to distinguish among types of offenders on

9379-470: The late 1990s—to avoid local police infiltration—the organization discouraged the formation of local chapters. Around 1995, an undercover detective discovered there were 1,100 people on the organization's rolls. NAMBLA was the largest group in International Pedophile and Child Emancipation (IPCE), an international pro-pedophile activist organization. Since then, the organization has dwindled to only

9492-483: The likelihood of being pedophilic. Some studies have found that pedophiles are less cognitively impaired than non-pedophilic child molesters. A 2011 study reported that pedophilic child molesters had deficits in response inhibition, but no deficits in memory or cognitive flexibility. Evidence of familial transmittability "suggests, but does not prove that genetic factors are responsible" for the development of pedophilia. A 2015 study indicated that pedophilic offenders have

9605-508: The likelihood of sexual offenses against children. Its content varies widely between therapists, but a typical program might involve training in self-control, social competence and empathy, and use cognitive restructuring to change views on sex with children. The most common form of this therapy is relapse prevention , where the patient is taught to identify and respond to potentially risky situations based on principles used for treating addictions. The evidence for cognitive behavioral therapy

9718-497: The lynch-mob hysteria that dogs the issue of man-boy love. In Sexual Personae , I argued that male pedophilia is intricately intertwined with the cardinal moments of Western civilization." Paglia noted in several interviews, as well as Sexual Personae , that she supports the legalization of certain forms of child pornography . She later had a change of heart on the matter. In an interview for Radio New Zealand's Saturday Morning show, conducted on April 28, 2018, by Kim Hill , Paglia

9831-605: The organization. Onell R. Soto, a San Diego Union-Tribune writer, wrote in February 2005, "Law enforcement officials and mental health professionals say that while NAMBLA's membership numbers are small, the group has a dangerous ripple effect through the Internet by sanctioning the behavior of those who would abuse children". In 1993, the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) achieved United Nations consultative status. NAMBLA's membership in ILGA drew heavy criticism and caused

9944-530: The organizing committee had been dominated by NAMBLA and its supporters. The next year, after some lesbians threatened to picket, the Cornell University group Gay People at Cornell (Gay PAC) rescinded its invitation to NAMBLA co-founder David Thorstad to be the keynote speaker at the annual May Gay Festival. In the following years, gay rights groups tried to block NAMBLA's participation in gay pride parades, prompting leading gay rights figure Harry Hay to wear

10057-408: The power imbalance inherent in all adult–child relationships. Other cognitive distortions include the idea of "children as sexual beings", uncontrollability of sexual behavior, and "sexual entitlement-bias". Consumption of child pornography is a more reliable indicator of pedophilia than molesting a child, although some non-pedophiles also view child pornography. Child pornography may be used for

10170-409: The prenatal environment predispose a male to develop both affective disorders and pedophilia, or do the frustration, danger, and isolation engendered by unacceptable sexual desires—or their occasional furtive satisfaction—lead to anxiety and despair?" They indicated that, because they previously found mothers of pedophiles to be more likely to have undergone psychiatric treatment, the genetic possibility

10283-460: The prepubescent child or children they are aroused by, for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilic disorder. Similarly, the ICD-11 excludes sexual behavior among post-pubertal children who are close in age. The DSM requires the arousal pattern must be present for 6 months or longer, while the ICD lacks this requirement. The ICD criteria also refrain from specifying chronological ages. In popular usage,

10396-401: The presence of prepubescent children, or both. Non-exclusive offenders—or "non-exclusive pedophiles"—may at times be referred to as non-pedophilic offenders, but the two terms are not always synonymous. Non-exclusive offenders are sexually attracted to both children and adults, and can be sexually aroused by both, though a sexual preference for one over the other in this case may also exist. If

10509-567: The removal of legal protections for children. These goals constitute a form of child abuse and are repugnant to GLAAD." That year, the Board of Directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) adopted a resolution on NAMBLA that said, "NGLTF condemns all abuse of minors, both sexual and any other kind, perpetrated by adults. Accordingly, NGLTF condemns the organizational goals of NAMBLA and any other such organization." In 2000 in New York,

10622-476: The research is of poor quality and that it is difficult to draw any firm conclusion from it. While not causes of pedophilia themselves, childhood abuse by adults or comorbid psychiatric illnesses—such as personality disorders and substance abuse —are risk factors for acting on pedophilic urges. Blanchard, Cantor, and Robichaud addressed comorbid psychiatric illnesses that, "The theoretical implications are not so clear. Do particular genes or noxious factors in

10735-495: The royal family are placed on the site again. The organisation had to pay €1,235 in costs. The home of the organization's president, Ad van den Berg, was raided by police in October 2010; downloads of illegal material had been traced back to Van den Berg's internet connection. It was announced in March 2011 that large quantities of child pornography were found among the confiscated material, and even more material, including computers,

10848-567: The specific treatment outcome for pedophiles. Many do not select their treatment and control groups randomly . Offenders who refuse or quit treatment are at higher risk of offending, so excluding them from the treated group, while not excluding those who would have refused or quit from the control group, can bias the treated group in favor of those with lower recidivism. The effectiveness of treatment for non-offending pedophiles has not been studied. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to reduce attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that may increase

10961-500: The stage for the founding of NAMBLA. In December 1977, police raided a house in the Boston suburb Revere . Twenty-four men were arrested and indicted on over 100 felony counts of the statutory rape of boys aged eight to fifteen. Suffolk County district attorney Garrett H. Byrne found the men had used drugs and video games to lure the boys into a house, where they photographed them as they engaged in sexual activity. The men were members of

11074-459: The subsequent DSM-II listed the disorder as one subtype of the classification "Sexual Deviation", but no diagnostic criteria were provided. The DSM-III, published in 1980, contained a full description of the disorder and provided a set of guidelines for diagnosis. The revision in 1987, the DSM-III-R, kept the description largely the same, but updated and expanded the diagnostic criteria. Pedophilia

11187-458: The suspension of ILGA. Many gay organizations called for the ILGA to dissolve ties with NAMBLA. Republican Senator Jesse Helms proposed a bill to withhold US$ 119 million in UN contributions until U.S. President Bill Clinton could certify that no UN agency grants any official status to organizations that condoned pedophilia. The bill was unanimously approved by Congress and signed into law by Clinton in April 1994. In 1994, ILGA expelled NAMBLA—

11300-504: The term appears in a section titled "Violation of Individuals Under the Age of Fourteen", which focuses on the forensic psychiatry aspect of child sexual offenders in general. Krafft-Ebing describes several typologies of offender, dividing them into psychopathological and non-psychopathological origins, and hypothesizes several apparent causal factors that may lead to the sexual abuse of children. Krafft-Ebing mentioned paedophilia erotica in

11413-520: The topic in his 1905 book Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality , in a section titled The Sexually immature and Animals as Sexual objects. He wrote that exclusive pedophilia was rare and only occasionally were prepubescent children exclusive objects. He wrote that they usually were the subject of desire when a weak person "makes use of such substitutes" or when an uncontrollable instinct which will not allow delay seeks immediate gratification and cannot find

11526-428: The true number of female pedophiles. No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse. The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established. Some studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological pathologies. The word pedophilia comes from

11639-468: The two philias. In addition to hebephilia, some clinicians have proposed other categories that are somewhat or completely distinguished from pedophilia; these include pedohebephilia (a combination of pedophilia and hebephilia) and ephebophilia (though ephebophilia is not considered pathological). Pedophilia emerges before or during puberty, and is stable over time. It is self-discovered, not chosen. For these reasons, pedophilia has been described as

11752-572: The vast majority of sexual crimes committed against children. Among convicted offenders, 0.4% to 4% are female, and one literature review estimates that the ratio of male-to-female child molesters is 10 to 1. The true number of female child molesters may be underrepresented by available estimates, for reasons including a "societal tendency to dismiss the negative impact of sexual relationships between young boys and adult women, as well as women's greater access to very young children who cannot report their abuse", among other explanations. The term pedophile

11865-646: The word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse , including any sexual interest in minors below the local age of consent or age of adulthood , regardless of their level of physical or mental development. This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of child sexual abuse and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-pubescent minors. Such use should be avoided, because although some people who commit child sexual abuse are pedophiles, child sexual abuse offenders are not pedophiles unless they have

11978-485: The wrongful death of their son. According to the suit, defendants Charles Jaynes and Salvatore Sicari, who were convicted of murdering the Curleys' son Jeffrey, "stalked ... tortured, murdered and mutilated [his] body on or about October 1, 1997. Upon information and belief immediately prior to said acts, Charles Jaynes accessed NAMBLA's website at the Boston Public Library." The lawsuit said, "NAMBLA serves as

12091-558: Was a Dutch association that advocated the societal acceptance of pedophilia and legalization of sexual relationships between adults and children. The organization began in 1984. It claimed to fight for "the social and societal acceptance of child-adult relationships", emphasising what they called the "consent of both child and adult" and the "freedom for the child to withdraw from the relationship". It claimed to be in favour of "objective, scientifically verifiable truth and against political terror and discrimination." From 1986 until 2006,

12204-459: Was asked, "Are you a libertarian on the issue of pedophilia?", to which she replied, "In terms of the present day, I think it's absolutely impossible to think we could reproduce the Athenian code of pedophilia, of boy-love, that was central to culture at that time. ... We must protect children, and I feel that very very strongly. The age of consent for sexual interactions between a boy and an older man

12317-656: Was confiscated when Van den Berg was arrested on 29 March. In October 2018 he was convicted of possession of child pornography, and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Suspects in the Amsterdam sex case , an investigation into the abuse of tens of children in Amsterdam kindergartens, were members of MARTIJN. On 20 May 2011, Herman Spronck, the head of the Dutch arm of the Salesian Catholic order, confirmed to RTL Nieuws that

12430-481: Was implemented. The American Psychiatric Association stated that "[i]n the case of pedophilic disorder, the notable detail is what wasn't revised in the new manual. Although proposals were discussed throughout the DSM-5 development process, diagnostic criteria ultimately remained the same as in DSM-IV TR" and that "[o]nly the disorder name will be changed from pedophilia to pedophilic disorder to maintain consistency with

12543-404: Was learned that photographs of Princess Catharina-Amalia , daughter of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Maxima , were on display on the website's forum. The Prince went to court to request a €50,000 fine and the removal of the photos from the website. The court agreed that the photos must be removed, and imposed a fine of €5,000 to be paid every time photos of children of

12656-460: Was not competent to testify. Allen Ginsberg , poet and father of the Beat Generation , was an affiliated member of NAMBLA. Claiming to have joined the organization "in defense of free speech", Ginsberg said: "Attacks on NAMBLA stink of politics, witchhunting for profit, humorlessness, vanity, anger and ignorance ... I'm a member of NAMBLA because I love boys too—everybody does, who has

12769-546: Was used to lower sex drive by reducing testosterone. The emergence of pharmacological methods of adjusting testosterone has made it largely obsolete, because they are similarly effective and less invasive. It is still occasionally performed in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and a few U.S. states. Non-randomized studies have reported that surgical castration reduces recidivism in contact sex offenders. The Association for

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