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TW : The most vicious crime (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by needthosepylons@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Why do it seems that pedophilia is, nowadays, percieved as the most vicious crime, along with terrorism? Why not, for example, sexual assault?

I mean it as an actual question, but first I should clarify my intent :

-I'm not advocating for normalizing pedophilia

-I have been a victim of it myself. Luckily, I've mostly recovered from it and live a happy life.

-Because of my political commitments, which are totally unrelated to this question, I've met some old people from the 70s who advocated for the depenalization of consensual sex between minors and adults (if such a thing exist, which can legitimately be doubted).

-I'm friend with one of them but I could never understand how that idea came to their minds. She knows I oppose the very idea. But it got me curious.

What I want to ask is, what, in contemporary history, contributed to make pedophilia the #1 vicious crime, surpassing rape in most consciences (if I'm not mistaken), in your opinion?

Feel free to delete this if that's not acceptable. Also, I didn't include the word "pedophilia" in the title to avoid triggering people who may have such experiences.

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[–] DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca 34 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (8 children)

contributed to make pedophilia the #1 vicious crime, surpassing rape in most consciences

It is rape. Children are not able to consent.

What makes the rape of a child seen as worse as the rape of an adult, is that children are vulnerable in every sense of the word; physically, emotionally, financially, and sexually.
Everyone has been a child so they are able to empathize, and we are "programmed" to want to protect them.

Edit: I am talking about people who act on their pedophilia by abusing children.

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 17 points 4 months ago (4 children)

I think, additionally, that children, being still developing, suffer far more ill long term effects from emotional trauma than adults. That isn't to say that any rape is okay - but the damage to a developing mind is much more deep.

[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Maybe that's the reason. At least that's what I tend to think. But at the same time, it the rise of pedophilia to the prime type of deviancy looks quite.. recent, if I may say? So something is society may have changed in the last decades/century to make it so?

[–] ellabee@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago

you mean the thing where people, often women, have spent decades trying to expose the abuse happening in private homes, and trying to get it addressed?

because that's what happened. women's voices, speaking about marital rape and domestic abuse. getting the political power to change laws, to make it illegal, and give domestic victims the means to escape. it also surfaced the child abuse, again. it's just not been buried again yet.

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