Pedophilia A Crime Or A Disorder?

TRIGGER WARNING:The concept of sexual abuse is a taboo topic in Pakistan considering that we live in a society that is conservative in nature, though that aspect is underway and towards the road of liberation, we need to remind ourselves of the culture and the morals that have been the pillar of this nation since the beginning and are not to be changed but are in need to coincide with one another in peace.

The main issue that we need to start with is what Pedophilia is? Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, or in other words lust towards underage children. The basis one needs to establish in this sensitive issue is to remind ourselves that affection and love is a human feeling that is inherited in us and in our genes, but the notion of loving people close to our own age is a human concept, which is where pedophilia comes in., that being said a 40-year-old man having intercourse with an 8-year-old girl is unacceptable and morally wrong.

Pedophilia is a fine line that lies between love, adoration, and lust, the situation is also dependant on culture and on the country at hand. According to Psychologists, you can not accuse someone of pedophilia at one sitting, the process of stating the disorder takes about 6 months, the elements of child pornography can be linked to pedophilia.

Pedophilia is Zina, having intercourse with a child without marrying them is Zina Marriage and Pedophilia are two different things, they should not be linked together, the topic is sensitive and we in no way are trying to state that is okay to marry an 8-year-old off to a 30-year-old man, or visa verse. The reason the two separate issues are so strongly intervened together is that of the society and the culture that we have established around us and the distorted image of religion that we have built in the society that is only applicable to our wants and needs.

Psychologists state that Pedophilia is a disorder and the person at hand has no control over them, this does not mean that whatever they are doing is not their fault, we all are responsible for our actions. These people live among us and are as normal as you and I, we may never even know if they are Pedophiles unless they act upon their urges. There are many instances that are swept under the rug not just in Pakistan but all around the globe just for the sake of “log Kia kahein gay” and the family’s reputation in the society.

This patriarchal society that only sees women as an object for men’s pleasure is the reason why child marriages occur because we have given women a distorted image of sex, for when we marry them off to older men, we strip the girls from their human aspect and lay them down as objects of pleasure. The issue is not marriage but the culture that exists in our society, that refuses to acknowledge their lack of information on issues such as religion and education. Our culture has changed to the point where it is not understood anymore and people don’t want to either. The government may take many actions against such an act but that will all be in vain unless we as a society understand the deep-rooted problem that resides in us.