METRO BEIJING / TWOCENTS-OPINION
Protection from pedophilia
Published: Aug 21, 2017 05:18 PM

Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT



Recently, a photo was widely circulated online that showed a man molesting a young girl at a train station. The suspect has his hands under the girl's blouse while she was using her smartphone. The 18-year-old suspect surnamed Duan has been detained by the police.

An optimistic point of view on the case is that thanks to the Internet, the suspect's family was exposed and the girl, who was adopted by the family, might be rescued from them; although, I'm a bit concerned about her future.

For quite a long time the public has not been aware of the dangers of sexual abuse towards children, even when more and more cases are being released to the public. The media seldom uses the term "pedophilia." Of course, I'm not in the position to judge whether the young man that molested his adopted sister was a pedophile. However, it is still worth calling pedophilia to the public's attention. The word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of sexual child abuse. Since the 1980s, many studies have taken place and nowadays, the pedophilic disorder is a DSM-5 acknowledged clinical illness.

Potentially around 5 percent of adult men might be pedophiles, and one study estimates a 10 to 1 ratio of male-to-female child molesters. Other motives for sexual child abuse aside from pedophilia might be, marital problems, not being able to find an adult partner, anti-social tendencies, high sexual drive, alcohol abuse and the lack of proper sex education (especially in China).

In fact, not all pedophiles become sexual offenders, meaning that they don't act on their sexual tendencies. Around 25 to 50 percent of detected child molesters are classified as pedophiles, meaning half of them are non-pedophilic molesters.

However, because most studies of pedophilia use criminal samples, their findings do not reveal the whole picture of the disorder.

Pedophilia usually refers to a strong sexual interest in prepubescent children, which is different from hebephilia (interest in pubescent children, ages 11-14) and ephebophilia (interest in mid-to-late adolescents, ages 15-19), although the former one is often used for all the cases.

Unfortunately, there is no "cure" for pedophilia, although many patients use an antiandrogen drugs, which is also known as chemical castration drug, to lower their sexual drive so they won't become criminals. Cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral interventions are alternative treatments.

Children have less ability to protect themselves, less knowledge about the world and sex and their bodies are still developing, so they are at a greater risk for sexual predators. Any kind of molestation might leave a scar not only on their bodies but also on their minds, which is never easy to move past. Therefore they need society's protection.

In my opinion, it is never "overreacting" when it is an event that is related to children.

In order to protect them, parents and children need to know what is out there. The public needs to know more about pedophilia and child molesters in order to avoid tragedy.

We also need more studies on this subject from both scientific and societal point of views. As I always say, the darkness is always there, hiding, waiting and it won't disappear unless someone brings it into the light; only when we understand what we are up against can we fight it. 

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.