[Z]

I think "naturally occurring" would be less inflammatory than "natural" or "normal" - some people develop into adulthood with an attraction to children. We can be as offended as we like about it, it doesn't mean it's not true. Paedophilia is one of the last taboos in our society that people are just not willing to have the conversation about for many reasons, but I think it's important to not immediately grab the pitchforks when there are paedophiles brave enough to speak out publicly. Yes, brave. Terrible though it may be that there are people who are attracted to children, it takes a lot of bravery to admit that to anyone and I'd argue that paedophilia is in the same arena as alcoholism, depression and other forms of addictive behaviour - if you identify with a destructive behaviour, you can only do your best to spend your life not succumbing to that behaviour. You could argue that the ripple effect from any of those behaviours is as savage as the next one - but the difference is that paedophilia is something we legislate against. No one puts alcoholics in jail for ruining their lives and the lives of those around them; but we arrest paedophiles for raping children. Quite rightly too - I think a significant part of the psychology behind paedophilia must stem from childhood abuse, it's a cycle of abuse after all.

However, paedophiles are people too. They have jobs and families and friends and hobbies and it's kind of awful that someone can be branded a paedophile and be stripped of their humanity in the process - if we can better understand why paedophiles come to be and why they offend, we can better understand how to protect children in the future. Paedophilia is naturally occurring because it's in some peoples' nature to be paedophilic. That's just who they are. It must be a horrible kind of torment to know that you'd be despised if anyone ever knew about your attractions. You might never have a family because you're terrified that you'd offend against your own child; you might never hold down a normal relationship because you're scared of having kids or you're not sexually satisfied or you're terrified that if you get close to anyone, they'll find out. I just think there needs to be some understanding in the other corner of this debate. It's hard to know how to feel about proud paedophiles but I suppose I commend them in some way, it can't be easy to live with yourself.