Challenges of The Pedophilia In The Present Time

1. Introduction

The term child molester is commonly used by people for child abuse but in recent publicity and
awareness concerning sexual abuse of children has resulted in the frequent use of the term
Pedophilia. At one time this term was almost exclusively used by psychologists and psychiatrists.
Dr. Groth's categorization defines a child molester as having a sexual attraction toward prepubertal
children (pedophilia) or sexual attraction toward pubertal children (hebephilia).

2. Challenging Terms and definition of Pedophilia

The term child molester is fairly common and is used by professionals and nonprofessionals alike,
including law enforcement officers. Although Webster's New World Dictionary defines molest as
“annoy, interfere with, or meddle with so as to trouble or harm," when combined with the word
child, it has generally come to convey sexual abuse of some type. In spite of its common usage, it
is surprising how many different images and variations of meanings the term child molester has
for different individuals. For many, it brings to mind the image of the dirty old man waiting to lure
little children. For some, the child molester is a stranger to his victim and not a father having sex
with his daughter. For others, the child molester is one who exposes himself to or fondles children
without engaging in vaginal or anal intercourse. Still others believe the child molester is a
nonviolent offender. Dr. A. Nicholas Groth, one of the leading experts on sexual victimization of
children, differentiates between nonviolent child molesters who coax or pressure the child into
sexual activity and violent child rapists who overpower or threaten to harm their victims (see
"Appendix II: References").

3. Challenging nature of Pedophiles

It is important to realize that to refer to someone as a pedophile is to say only that the individual
has a sexual preference for children. It says little or nothing about the other aspects of his character
and personality. To assume that someone is not a pedophile simply because he is nice, goes to
church, works hard, is kind to animals, and so on, is absurd. Pedophiles span the full spectrum
from saints to monsters. In spite of this fact, over and over again pedophiles are not recognized,
investigated, charged, convicted, or sent to prison simply because they are "nice guys."

4. Challenging Sexual Relationships of Pedophiles

It is also important to recognize that, while pedophiles prefer to have sex with children, they can
and do have sex with adults. Adult sexual relationships are more difficult for some pedophiles than
for others. Some pedophiles have sex with adults as part of their effort to gain or continue their
access to preferred children. For example/one might have occasional sex with a single mother to
insure continued access to her children.

5. Challenging Law Enforcement for Pedophilia

Most would probably not apply the term child molester to a man who utilizes the services of an
adolescent prostitute. For law enforcement officers, the term child molester is more likely to
conform to a legal definition of sexual molestation set forth in the penal code. According to it a
child molester will be defined as a significantly older individual who engages in any type of sexual
activity with individuals legally defined as children. When using the term child molester, no
distinctions will be made between male or female, single or repeat offenders, or violent or
nonviolent offenders. No distinctions will be made as to whether the child victims are prepubescent
or pubescent, known or unknown, related or unrelated to the offender. Finally, no distinctions will
be made based on the type of sexual activity engaged in by the offender. Although such distinctions
may have important legal and evaluation significance, they have no bearing on whether or not an
individual is labeled a child molester. For law enforcement purposes, a child molester is simply an
individual who engages in illegal sexual activity with children.

6. Classification of challenging typology of Pedophilia

A more recent classification typology is the one developed by Raymond A. Knight, Ph.D., and
Robert A. Prentky, Ph.D., that classifies child molesters based on the following five elements:
social competence, sexual preoccupation with children, non-offense contact with children,
physical injury to child, and sadism. The typology was empirically developed through statistical
analysis and is technically referred to as factor analytically derived taxonomy. Although it sounds
complicated, the typology makes sense and provides useful insights for criminal justice
professionals. It is being utilized in the Case in Point series published by the National Center for
1tIissing and Exploited Children to classify the offenders interviewed for research purposes by the
FBI. Both of these classification systems were developed for and are used primarily by
psychologists evaluating and treating child molesters. These two systems and the DSM-III-R
diagnostic system require that the offender be identified and available for evaluation.

7. Challenging Morally Indiscriminate

For molesters, the sexual abuse of children is simply part of a general pattern of abuse in his life.
He is a user and abuser of people. He abuses his wife, friends, and coworkers. He lies, cheats, or
steals whenever he thinks he can get away with it. He molests children for a simple reason: "Why
not?" His primary victim criteria are vulnerability and opportunity. He has the urge, a child is there,
and so he acts. He typically uses force, lures, or manipulation to obtain his victims. He may
violently or nonviolently abduct his victims. Although his victims frequently are strangers or
acquaintances, it is impo~tant for the investigator to realize that his victims can also be the
offender's own children. The incestuous father or mother might be this morally indiscriminate
offender. He frequently collects deLctive magazines or adult pornography of a sadomasochistic
nature. He may collect some child pornography, especially that which depicts pubescent children.
Because he is an impulsive person who lacks conscience, he is an especially high risk to molest
pubescent children. Such acts may be criminal but not necessarily sexually deviant.

8. Challenging Identification of pedophilia

Sexual exploitation is a term used to describe the sexual victimization of children, involving child
pornography, child sex rings, and child prostitution. While offenders utilizing the services of a
child prostitute maybe either Situational or Preferential Child Molesters, those involved in child
pornography and child sex rings are predominately Preferential Child Molesters. And, although a
variety of individuals sexually abuse children, Preferential Child Molesters, or pedophiles, are the
primary sexual exploiters of children. An important step in investigating the difficult cases of child
sexual victimization is to recognize and identify, if present, the highly predictable sexual behavior
patterns of pedophiles. First, it is essential that the law enforcement investigator attempt to
determine if an offender is a Situational or pedophiles. There are most likely more Situational than
pedophiles. Each Situational Child Molester, however, is likely to abuse only a small number of
children in a lifetime. A pedophile might molest ten, fifty, hundreds, or even a thousand children
in a lifetime. Although pedophiles vary greatly, their sexual behavior is repetitive and highly
predictable. Knowledge of these sexual behavioral patterns or characteristics is extremely valuable
to the law, enforcement investigator or church leaders.

9. Challenging Forms of Pedophilia of Child Abuse

Physical abuse of children is coupled with emotional abuse. In the above discussion we have
described child marriages and it is not a hidden fact that children are also sold by their parents due
to economic reasons. Stories of camel jockeys as young as three years old trafficked from India
and Pakistan are sufficient to shock any sane person.

9.1 Physical Abuse

Battering is the most common form of physical abuse. This is not limited to partners only. This
generates anger in the children in the family even if they are just spectators. If they are also
subjected to violence by their parents, the situation is worse. It commonly includes repeated verbal
abuse of a child in the form of shouting, threatening, or degrading or humiliating criticism. An
interview study of 300 parents in Lahore, Pakistan found 83 per cent reporting that they used
corporal punishment — mostly slaps or kicks. About three per cent reported using sticks, belts and
other implements.

9.2 Child Marriages

Child marriages, a common practice among the poor in the rural and tribal areas by definition seem
to be acts of violence against the little couple who are married off at ages as young as five or six
or even before that. The reasons for these marriages may be economic (when a child is sold off in
marriage), Watta satta barter, compensation for the wrong doing of a family member (Swara),
tribal custom, or simply concern for the wellbeing of the daughter and the wish to see her settled
as early as possible.

9.3 Emotional Abuse

Other types of emotional abuse are confinement, such as shutting a child in dark closet and social
isolation, such as denying the child a friend. The normal reactions to such hurts should be anger
and pain; however, since children in this hurtful kind of environment, are forbidden to express
their anger and since it would be unbearable to experience their pain all alone, they are compelled
to suppress their feelings, repress all memory of trauma, and idealize those guilty of abuse.
According to a report by the Ministry of Social Welfare, an average of 10,000 children flee their
homes every year after being maltreated or tortured by their schoolteachers, parents and other
family members. As per a survey by the NGOs’ Coalition on Child Rights (NCCR), on the basis
of data collected from eight districts in the NWFP last year, some 404 children ran away from
home to escape torture by family members and teachers.

9.4 Neglect

The most common form of child abuse is neglect. This emotional abuse destroys a child’s self-
esteem. Physical neglect involves a parent’s failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or
medical care to a child. It may also include inadequate supervision and a consistent failure to
protect a child from hazards or dangers. Emotional neglect occurs when a parent or caretaker fails
to meet a child’s basic need of affection and comfort and encourages him to engage in delinquency.
Another form is depriving the child of his basic right to education, either by failing to enrol a child
in school or by permitting him to skip school. In middle and lower middle classes this behavior is
condoned by mothers and the father is not aware of the situation. Both do not address the issue and
it often results in the child dropping out of school.

9.5 Discrimination

In Pakistan parents pray to God to have a boy in their home. One of the major arguments for
polygamy and an increase in population is a desire to have a ‘crown prince’. It is not difficult to
understand in a male dominated society like Pakistan where gender inequality lies at the root of
most serious crimes like honor killings. This generates an inferiority complex in girls at home and
results in the inappropriate growth of the personality of the child. It also affects the personality of
boys at home, where they learn to dominate their sisters by virtue of their gender only. This is a
time of shaping their behaviors. The lessons learnt from home are repeated in their whole life. This
generates a reaction and anger in sensitive children which may cause their poor performance at
home and in school and result in them leaving home in extreme cases.
 9.6 Sexual Abuse

If Sexual abuse cannot be attributed directly to the parents then it definitely falls under the category
of sheer neglect on their part as a failure to take care of their children allowing them to be exposed
to such circumstances leading to this heinous crime. Sexual abuse of children has been defined as
inappropriate sexual contact with a child, where the abused child is used as an object of sexual
gratification. Mona Koser, a sociologist, who has carried out research on child abuse, told IRIN
that it was difficult for her to find accurate data because people were reluctant even to respond to
introductory questions. “Child abuse is on the rise because of a lack of parental attention and sex
education”, she said. “There is a lot of repression of sexuality so this shows up in unhealthy forms.
You rarely find healthy expressions of sexuality in everyday life [in Pakistan] so sexual abuse
becomes very common”, clinical psychologist Liaqat Tabssum told IRIN.

9.7 Incest

Incest cases are seldom reported. The response of the public, police and courts is poor. A large
number of cases are kept under the carpet. The victims are ‘advised’ to be silent. It involves
extreme shame and dishonor for the family so the victim is pressurized from all quarters to hush
up. Some NGO’s note that this issue is seldom recognized by the courts as well. The judiciary
gives maximum benefit to the accused in the name of ‘saving’ the family unit. In addition, incest
usually involves the defilement of young girls which, if publicly acknowledged, would destroy
their chances of marriage.

10. Challenging Reasons for Pedophilia or Child Abuse

There are various reasons for abuse of children but a few are mentioned here:

10.1 Poverty is one main reason causing frustration and an inability of the parents to discharge
their duties in an effective manner. Forced marriages, child marriages and giving away of
daughters as a replacement of compromise stem from poverty. Child trafficking and bonded
labor its larger offshoots.
10.2 Illiteracy is another big reason for abuse of children at home. Even educated people who are
not aware of the subject keep on repeating the same cycle of violence which they have
observed in their own childhood.
10.3 Social injustices, police tyranny, mental torture suffered by people in hospitals and district
courts generate frustration in people, which makes them less caring parents.
10.4 Women who get married early and bear several children in a short span of time or those who
are maltreated by their in-laws are most likely to abuse their own children.
10.5 Similarly, the ever-growing trend of violence in society and lack of appropriate laws to check
domestic violence make children vulnerable to torture by their parents and other members of
their family.
10.6 Religion is also used as a tool to justify disciplining children by parents. Obedience and
respect to parents is always taken as keeping quiet for all kinds of atrocities by them.