I was on a radio program recently as a guest where the title of the show was "Its a Family Affair - Pedophilia, should it be an accepted act? This radio program was presented by Butterfly Dreams Abuse Recovery on Blog Talk Radio. It was hosted by two of my friends and Advocates for survivors and children - Patricia A. McKnight and Michal Madison. Here is the link for the show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/butterflydreamstalkradio/2014/03/11/its-a-family-affair--pedophilia-should-it-be-an-accepted-act
I hope you will take the time to read and share this link with your friends. Pedophilia is a topic that needs to be discussed if we hope to be able to protect our children from being molested. As you will hear me mention on the show, not all pedophiles molest children. My dad was not a pedophile. He molested me but he was also attracted to adult women. I have been told that not all pedophiles act on their desires. From what I have read on the internet, many do. They form groups online to talk about their desires and share photos of some of their abuse of children. It seems to be growing more and more each day. That is why I and many other survivors are writing articles to inform the uninformed public. We cannot remain blind to this problem if we want to protect our children.
The topic of Pedophiles came up for this radio program because of a blog article shared by another friend and Advocate, David Pittman of the website TOGETHER WE HEAL. The article that David wrote was entitled, "We can't prove sex with children does them harm" says Labour linked NCCL. Here is a link to David's blog post:
http://together-we-heal.org/2014/03/04/we-cant-prove-sex-with-children-does-them-harm-says-labour-linked-nccl
For those of you who read David's blog article, this is happening in England but that doesn't mean it is not happening other places in the world. If these beliefs are accepted in England, it will spread to other countries too. We can't be complacent just because it is happening somewhere else. Thank you David Pittman for sharing this article from England. In the origin article that David mentions in his blog post, lowering the age of consent was also being discussed and lobbied for by the Paedophile Information Exchange. Here is the link to the original post.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/462604/We-can-t-prove-sex-with-children-does-them-harm-says-Labour-linked-NCCL
I don't need any studies done to tell you that sexual abuse does hurt children. The act does not have to be violent to cause emotional scars that never completely heal. Self-worth is affected which can then affect every one of your adult relationships. Some are afraid to have adult relationships because of their fears of being abused again. Many sexually abused children will grow up to have relationships that are full of domestic violence because they feel they don't deserve better. Trusting another person is hard for many sexual abuse victims, especially if those who abused us were our parents. Ask a childhood sexual abuse survivor if they were harmed by the abuse. They will tell you yes.
I have another link for you to check out to an article called "Sexual and Emotional Abuse Scar the Brain in Specific Ways" written by Maia Szalavitz on June 5, 2013. The research in this article comes from the American Journal of Psychiatry from a study of the brains of 51 women from Atlanta, Georgia. This article tested women but I would bet that men's brains would look the same for those who were sexually abused as little boys. Here is the link.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/05/sexual-and-emotional-abuse-scar-the-brain-in-specific-ways/
If you would like more information about Pedophiles, check out the book by expert, Anna C. Salter. I haven't read the book yet but I do intend to order it soon. The name of the book is Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists And Other Sex Offenders.
Well, I have given you plenty to listen to and read in this article. I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all of this information but it is an important topic if we want to protect our children from sexual predators.
Patricia
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/butterflydreamstalkradio/2014/03/11/its-a-family-affair--pedophilia-should-it-be-an-accepted-act
I hope you will take the time to read and share this link with your friends. Pedophilia is a topic that needs to be discussed if we hope to be able to protect our children from being molested. As you will hear me mention on the show, not all pedophiles molest children. My dad was not a pedophile. He molested me but he was also attracted to adult women. I have been told that not all pedophiles act on their desires. From what I have read on the internet, many do. They form groups online to talk about their desires and share photos of some of their abuse of children. It seems to be growing more and more each day. That is why I and many other survivors are writing articles to inform the uninformed public. We cannot remain blind to this problem if we want to protect our children.
The topic of Pedophiles came up for this radio program because of a blog article shared by another friend and Advocate, David Pittman of the website TOGETHER WE HEAL. The article that David wrote was entitled, "We can't prove sex with children does them harm" says Labour linked NCCL. Here is a link to David's blog post:
http://together-we-heal.org/2014/03/04/we-cant-prove-sex-with-children-does-them-harm-says-labour-linked-nccl
For those of you who read David's blog article, this is happening in England but that doesn't mean it is not happening other places in the world. If these beliefs are accepted in England, it will spread to other countries too. We can't be complacent just because it is happening somewhere else. Thank you David Pittman for sharing this article from England. In the origin article that David mentions in his blog post, lowering the age of consent was also being discussed and lobbied for by the Paedophile Information Exchange. Here is the link to the original post.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/462604/We-can-t-prove-sex-with-children-does-them-harm-says-Labour-linked-NCCL
I don't need any studies done to tell you that sexual abuse does hurt children. The act does not have to be violent to cause emotional scars that never completely heal. Self-worth is affected which can then affect every one of your adult relationships. Some are afraid to have adult relationships because of their fears of being abused again. Many sexually abused children will grow up to have relationships that are full of domestic violence because they feel they don't deserve better. Trusting another person is hard for many sexual abuse victims, especially if those who abused us were our parents. Ask a childhood sexual abuse survivor if they were harmed by the abuse. They will tell you yes.
I have another link for you to check out to an article called "Sexual and Emotional Abuse Scar the Brain in Specific Ways" written by Maia Szalavitz on June 5, 2013. The research in this article comes from the American Journal of Psychiatry from a study of the brains of 51 women from Atlanta, Georgia. This article tested women but I would bet that men's brains would look the same for those who were sexually abused as little boys. Here is the link.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/05/sexual-and-emotional-abuse-scar-the-brain-in-specific-ways/
If you would like more information about Pedophiles, check out the book by expert, Anna C. Salter. I haven't read the book yet but I do intend to order it soon. The name of the book is Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists And Other Sex Offenders.
Well, I have given you plenty to listen to and read in this article. I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all of this information but it is an important topic if we want to protect our children from sexual predators.
Patricia
