1w ago

A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing? (2023, linked study is worth a read).

A survey found 1 in 6 men admit sexual feelings for children. So is paedophilia increasing?

I came across this after someone I know made some claims about pedophilia prevalence I found unbelievable. Leading me to the survey.

Surveys are hard, there's always some percentage of people that say strange things, and self reports could be over or underestimates of prevalence.

I think that the way the results bundle 19 year old who watch a porn video that had a 17 year old in it, and 50 year old that watched a porn video of a 5 year old together is needlessly inflammatory. While neither is good I think culturally we are generally vastly more worried about what leads to the second, or even what makes the 50 year old look for 17 year olds (i.e. cases where the 19 year old didn't grow out of it).

Still, some of these stats are extremely troubling to me, and I'm interested in what people make of it.

22 comments

Given the age of consent is 16, it's a bit stupid to include 17 year olds as children.
- You should read the study if you want to know why it was done the way it was done. Scientists are very good at explaining why the criteria they selected are the criteria they selected.
  From the summary report
  This report is part of an international survey that included men in Australia, the US and the UK, where the age of consent varies from 16 – 18 depending on the region and the offense. Accordingly, we used 18 as the age of consent for all sexual offences, although the age of consent for sexual activity is 16 in Australia. Therefore, some of what is noted as sexual contact with a child in our findings may be consensual activity (for instance, a 19 year old having sex with a 17 year old), which is a limitation of the survey. However, it is unlikely that our contact offense findings were significantly impacted by this limitation due to the following factors
  Our survey included a question on whether participants had intentionally viewed “pornographic material” containing people under the age of 18 (that is, child sexual abuse material). Participants could answer whether they had never done so, had done so when they were under 18, or had done so when they were over 18. Since this was a forced option, those who accessed child sexual abuse material as a child, but continued offending as adults, may not have been included in the adult offending analysis. As a result, our data on child sexual abuse material offending may be an under-estimation.
- Given the age of consent is 16
  Generally true for most states, a couple are 17 and there are various special cases. I didn't realise how different it is between states and about authority rules (e.g. in some states, a person has a higher AoC for a guardian or teacher).
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent_in_Oceania#Australia
  I also didn't know how recently some states ended anti-homosexuality laws, esp Tasmania.
  And I also didn't know that the federal 16 minimum age applies to Australians while outside of Australia. (Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) Division 272 )
  
  That's interesting! I didn't know that SA and TAS had separate ages.
I'm really curious how women's numbers compare. I suspect it's closer than most think
- At least one Australian expert says between 3% as likely as men to 25% as likely as men to offend. See below.
  You can just look stuff up you know.
  Joe Sullivan has spent 26 years counselling child sex offenders in the United Kingdom and is visiting Australia to attend an international police conference at Bond University on the Gold Coast.
  While experts agree the majority of paedophiles are men, Dr Sullivan says women are responsible for more offences than previously thought.
  "What I can say for certain is that it's way more prevalent than people fully appreciate or understand," he told the ABC.
  "There's some research to suggest it could be as high as 25 per cent.
  "However, when you look at the representation within the criminal justice system it could be as low as 3 to 4 per cent of overall convictions."
  source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-28/female-paedophiles-prevalent-says-leading-forensic-psychologist/6428710
  
  Ok, I meant as in identical study but on women because that's one of the basic questions one should be asking from a place of scientific curiosity. In general when a study like this is gendered even with fair reason it's good to be curious about what would happen the other way.
  Though fair enough I should've googled it
The researchers also found:
around one in ten (9.4%) Australian men has sexually offended against children
Does that figure accurately reflect the Australian population? Like, 1 in eleven men (roughly) have acted on some sexual impulse with a child. That sounds pretty high. I know a lot of adult males; so with that kind of statistic (and the follow-up about their typical backgrounds), it would be highly likely that I know a few sexual offenders without realising it.
- Well it's hard to say. Their sampling is pretty good, although mostly reflects the white population here as they discuss.
  We don't really have better stats than self reports, and this is a good study of self reports. You could dive into the data to see exactly what are the major areas, they indicate it's CP, CP when also a child, sexual chats online mostly. With about 3% assault or worse.
  Keep in mind it's not uniform, the wierdos and freaks are amusingly less likely to. It's more likely to be the well dressed guy with a family. So social elites. Depending on your crowd you might be pretty unlikely to know someone who does this.
pedophilia is a much bigger problem in (mostly men's) sexuality than people realise
it needs to be tackled with education and healthcare in a much more proactive way. and children should never be left alone with single adults
- It's obviously more important to judge people on what they do but just the prevalence is wild.
  Some no doubt is power, given wealthy men are more likely. I think power destroys human minds and no amount is safe.
  Even so, when I look at like 20 year olds they look and act like, well, children. Definitely not people I'm attracted to. I'm only 35, and I would say healthy 45-30 ish is what seems hot to me. Although I will admit I've always been drawn to people based on if they're clever (and how much they're across RAAC ;p) more than their body.
@naevaTheRat probably not. The actual condition is more prevalent than most people are aware it is just the cases we usually hear about are the worse ones. Most are disgusted by it and do not act on it or it stems from trauma. It is also taboo to even talk about and probably with all this shit going on with TOC, people are less afraid right now cuz people will literally go on a witch hunt when the condition itself is a lot more complex and most people do not act on theit urges, impulses, etc.
- An article headline is a rhetorical question m8
  
  @eureka I didn't ask.
- You should read the piece and the study I think. Rather than respond to the headline.
  
  @naevaTheRat no thanks. I deal with reading this type of stuff enough.
- @naevaTheRat I am not defending pedophiles btw, but there is a difference between the condition and pedophiles.

22 comments