Being a paedophile means being sexually and/or emotionally attracted to children. This means that people with a paedophilic sexual preference can fall in love with children and be sexually aroused by them. This is similar to the way heterosexual people are attracted to people of the opposite sex, for example. A paedophilic sexual preference usually emerges during puberty and persists.
Am I a monster because I like children?
No, you are not! Thoughts and actions are not the same thing. Sexual activity with children would cause serious harm to children and that is why we strictly reject it. This responsible attitude is also called anti-contact or anti-C. There are communities and self-help projects of paedophiles around the world who represent these values and are committed to not being equated with perpetrators and to supporting each other. You are not alone!
What does anti-contact and pro-contact mean?
Anti-contact describes the attitude of strictly rejecting sexual acts with children because children are not in a position to give fully informed consent. Children's sexuality is diametrically opposed to adult sexuality. Sexual acts with children are never on an equal footing and are always accompanied by an imbalance of power. Paedophiles who recognise these values and facts and want to protect children from sexualised violence are also called anti-C's within the community.
Pro-contact describes the opposite. Unfortunately, some paedophiles take a different view and do not reject sexual acts with children. Unfortunately, this still leads to many people in society equating paedophilia with child abuse and not differentiating between the two.
At this point, it is important to note that not everyone with a neutral or pro-C attitude is an offender! However, neutral or pro-contact attitudes are not up for discussion for us, as we consider the ideas to be extremely dangerous. Now that the attempts to liberalise sexual criminal law in the 1970s have failed and the extent of the links between politics, reform pedagogy and the lesbian and gay movement are well known, we believe that no one today can excuse themselves for succumbing to the naivety of the zeitgeist of the time. The immense consequences of sexual acts with a child have been very well researched. As early as 1979, Finkelhor formulated the concept of informed consent as a justification for a general rejection of sexual activity with a child. More information about our values._
What does MAP mean?
MAP=Minor attracted person/people comes from the American and is a new term for paedophilia. Many paedophiles prefer this term as it carries less of a stigma.
You have more questions? Then write us
More detailed information on this can be found at Schicksal und Herhausforderung e.V. and VirPed.