USA Today Runs Article About How Pedophiles Are 'Misunderstood' - Ahead of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Posted: Jan 13th, 2022 - 5:49 am
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is January 11, the article, titled “What the public keeps getting wrong about pedophilia,” was published the day before.
The piece was authored by Alia E. Dastagir, who covers topics like sexism, racism, media ethics and mental health.
“When most of the public thinks of pedophilia, they assume it’s synonymous with child sexual abuse, a pervasive social problem that has exploded to crisis levels online. Researchers who study pedophilia say the term describes an attraction, not an action, and using it interchangeably with ‘abuse’ fuels misperceptions,” Dastagir wrote.
She continued, “Not all people who sexually abuse children are pedophiles. Some pedophiles never abuse children, experts say, and some people who sexually abuse children do not sexually prefer them, but use them as a surrogate for an adult partner. They may be disinhibited and anti-social, with impulse control problems.”
The author went on to discuss the recent case of Allyn Walker, a former professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, who recently resigned after his desire to “destigmatize pedophilia” went viral. He also referred to pedophiles are “Minor Attracted Person,” a phrase commonly used by pedophiles online who often use anonymous accounts to find one another.
“There is growing support in the field for Walker’s point of view. While Cantor said there’s no treatment that can turn a pedophile into a non-pedophile, pedophiles can be taught self-control and compensatory strategies, which he said is more likely if they’re under the care of a professional. He argues that pedophiles need to be able to access therapy, which can be difficult since those afflicted may be ashamed to seek help or worried about being reported to the authorities if they do,” the USA Today article said in defense of the disgraced academic.
Survivor and advocate for human trafficking victims Eliza Bleu was quick to call out the timing of the article.
LINK/URL: USA Today Runs Article About How Pedophiles Are 'Misunderstood'
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