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The childlove movement is a movement by pedophiles that seeks societal acceptance of pedophilia). The movement seeks to eliminate legal and social obstacles to sexual relations between adults and children by:

• Attempting to change public perceptions of pedophilia and pedophiles;
• Promoting the repeal of legislation that criminalizing sexual activity between children and adults, such as age of consent legislation; and
• Promoting the use of the relatively unknown and benign-sounding terms "childlove" and "childlover" to avoid the highly negative connotations of the terms "pedophile" and "pedophilia" (which in its Greek and Latin roots actually means "child-loving" — pedo (child) and philia (love).

Those in the movement actively campaign against the idea that children are unable to properly consent to sex — a belief held by the vast majority of people, cultures, experts in child development and legal authorities.

Terminology advocacy

Pedophiles in the childlove movement seek to avoid the stigma of the term "pedophile", which carries connotations of exploitation, perversion, and criminality. They promote the term "childlover" (as well as the terms "boylover" or "girllover") to replace the term "pedophile" due to its pejorative connotations. The term has been popularized amoung pedophiles through the Internet.

These pedophilea often reject the words "pedophile" and "pedophilia" arguing that it no longer reflects its original meaning. They argue that "societal misconceptions" about pedophilia have so tainted the word that for most people it is synonymous with "child molester." They claim to support only "consensual" and "non-coercive" relationships with minors. They also want to be known by a term which they believe connotes a "spiritual and emotional attraction" to children rather than a physical or sexual attraction.

Many ephebophiles object to the term "childlover" since they are attracted only to adolescents, whom they consider to be physically and emotionally adults rather than children.

Origins

There have been varying degrees of pedophile activism since the 1970s. In the 1970s, most activity was in Western Europe, primarily in the Netherlands. Here, a number of researchers, among them Frits Bernard, Theo Sandfort, Edward Brongersma and Frans Gieles wrote a significant number of papers on the topic, both from a theoretical and a practical standpoint. A number of papers were produced discussing the effects of adult-child sexual interactions, using data from pedophiles as well as from adults and young people who had been involved in relationships with adults as children or adolescents.

In the late 1970s, the center of activity shifted to the United States and Britain with the 1977 formation of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) in London and the 1978 formation of the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in Boston. Both of these groups achieved relative notoriety in the early 1980s due to a public outcry against them. The PIE capitulated to public pressure and disbanded in 1985. NAMBLA still exists today, but was dealt a major blow when a man convicted of the rape and murder of Jeffrey Curley in 1997 was accused of having ties to the group.

In the 1980s, a number of other "childlove advocacy" groups were created. The most significant of these were MARTIJN in the Netherlands in 1982 and the Danish Pedophile Association in 1985. This was followed by the formation of IPCE, an umbrella organization and repository for pedophilia-related research, in the early 1990s. Of these groups, both MARTIJN and IPCE are still functioning, while the DPA decided to disband in early 2004.

The 1990s saw activity shift once again, to Montreal, Canada. It also saw the formation of online communities of childlovers. The Ganymede Collective was formed in Montreal in 1995 as a forum for "boylovers" to meet in the real world. Out of this group emerged the first online communities, some of which eventually coalesced under the umbrella of Free Spirits.

Objectives of the movement

Most people who identify with the childlove movement believe that the movement should attempt to:

• Change public perception of pedophiles
• Assert a difference between "childlove" and child sexual abuse
• Push for the decriminalization of child pornography possession
• Push for the abolition of age of consent legislation

Those who advocate the legalization of intimate contacts with children claim that romantic or intimate relationships with children are not necessarily unequal or coercive, and they reject the notion that their raison d'etre is to have sex with children. They stress that they are interested in "multi-faceted relationships" with children, of which physical intimacy is only one single component.

They claim that children are fully capable of expressing their desire not to be in a relationship or to end a relationship. The argument follows that children thus have the ability to decide which relationships they wish to be a part of, and should have the right to make their own choices about them. Furthermore, they assert that children can understand and that they thus ought to be allowed to consent to and even initiate sexual contact, be it with a peer or an adult.

They want to change the public perception that sex with children must lead to vaginal sex or anal sex, emphasizing that they do not support any physical harm to any of the participants. To this end, they do not normally advocate penetrative sex with very young children. Most girllovers do not advocate vaginal intercourse with pre-pubescent girls. Instead, these pedophiles largely advocate intimate activities that can include kissing, caressing, fondling and oral sex. The issue of what activities are appropriate for which ages of children is hotly debated, with some nepiophiles even arguing in favor of oral stimulation of toddlers.

Pedophiles argue that children are innately sexual from their infancy. They point to the research of Alfred Kinsey and others that shows clear evidence of sexual response, masturbation and sex play with others in young children. They argue, therefore, that since children are sexual and that some seek sex play, they should be able to consent to sexual activity with any other partner, regardless of age. Thus many pedophiles argue against age of consent legislation.

Many pedophiles are also opposed to the current state of sexual education. They say that children who are "properly" educated both about their bodies and their sexuality can be empowered to make decisions for themselves about whether or with whom to engage in intimate physical activity. They argue that enforced ignorance and abstinence only forces those young people who wish to explore their sexuality to do so in secret, making them more susceptible to unsafe environments and coercive relationships. In an atmosphere of openness, they say that children would be less susceptible to abuse, and they would not feel the same stigma about reporting any coerced or non-consensual activities.

Ephebophiles are also largely opposed to consent legislation. They argue that in former times, puberty was considered to be the threshold of adulthood in many societies and that it is a natural indication that the body is sexually mature. They say that ages of consent are legal definitions that are both arbitrary and discriminatory. Instead of a set age of consent, they argue that such decisions should be made by individuals.

Ethics

There are also a number of efforts underway to define the ethics of pedophilia. Most pedophiles understand that there is an innate power imbalance between adults and children, but they argue that within the correct ethical framework, relationships can take place in a mutually beneficial fashion.

Much of these efforts are based upon the works of Frans Gieles and Gerald Roelofs. The primary efforts have taken place under the auspices of IPCE, the Human Face of Pedophilia and CLogo.

The Dutch group MARTIJN has officially adopted the following four guidelines which are a synthesis of the efforts of these groups:

• Consent of both child and adult.
• Openness towards the parents of the child.
• Freedom for the child to withdraw from the relationship at any moment.
• Harmony with the child's development.

Most of the people involved in these efforts realize that such ethical guidelines can only work in jurisdictions where adult-child sex is not illegal and therefore do not address the ethical issues of having an illegal relationship with a minor. Instead, illegal activity is discouraged, such as in the Boylove Code of Ethics which states that the pedophiles should refrain from exposing the boys to exposure or embarassment, even if this means refraining from consensual activity considered illegal in their jurisdiction.

Activities

The primary activity of the movement is support for pedophiles. They attempt to provide support to others who would otherwise be reluctant to discuss their attractions for fear of being ostracized. To this end, some organizations provide online counseling and suicide prevention services. More radical elements have chosen to "out" themselves publicly, as is the case with the group Krumme 13 (en: Crooked 13)  that counsels pedophile convicts to continue their activities once released, and The Human Face of Pedophilia.

Robin Sharpe, a Canadian pedophile, successfully challenged child pornography laws in the Canadian Supreme Court in 2002, arguing that his fictional writings were not illegal because they had artistic merit.

Symbols

A blue spiral-shaped triangle symbol, or "BLogo" was designed by an individual using the online nickname "Kalos" in conjunction with Free Spirits.

A similar logo, a heart within a heart, or "GLogo" was developed by some pedophiles attracted to girls to symbolize consensual sex between adults and girls.

The "lblogo", a variation of the Blogo, is posted on the freespirits.org site. Its creators say that "it distinguishes itself by appearing like a young boys scrawl, giving it an enhanced 'little boy' flavor. Its rounded, soft shape and lack of hard corners and steep angles, is symbolic of the little boys we love."

Another logo, the CLogo, was proposed by the CLogo team in the Netherlands as a logo that could be used to represent the aspirations of child lovers. Pedophiles have mixed opinions on this logo. (This image is shown on the cover of the CLogo pamphlet, pictured above)

Some pedophiles labeling themselves boylovers and girllovers celebrate their sexual preference. International BoyLove Day is celebrated on the first Saturday after the summer solstice. This is the day pedophiles attracted to boys celebrate their attraction, often by lighting blue candles discreetly in public. Alice Day, April the 25th, is a day of celebration to pedophiles attracted to girls. This is the day Lewis Carroll met Alice Liddell, the girl for whom he wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, on 25 April 1856.

References

• Ashford, Lindsay (2002). The Childlover's Creed. The Human Face of Pedophilia.
• CLogo Team (2003). Pedophiles.
• Fagan PJ, Wise TN, et al "Pedophilia" JAMA. 2002;288:2458-2465.
• Gieles, Dr. Frans EJ (1998). I didn't know how to deal with it. IPCE.
• Gieles, Dr. Frans EJ (2002). Ethics and human rights in intergenerational relationships. IPCE.
• O'Carroll, Tom (1980). Paedophilia: The Radical Case. Peter Owen, London.
• Rossman, Parker (1976) Sexual Experience Between Men and Boys: Exploring the Pederast Underground. Association Press, New York.

See also

• Chronophilia
• Child sexual abuse
• Pedophilia
• Paraphilia
• List of self-identified pedophiles
• North American Man-Boy Love Association

External links

• Alice Day.
• CLogo
• Free Spirits.
• The Human Face of Pedophilia
• International BoyLove Day.
• IPCE.
• MARTIJN
• Robin Sharpe

• Articles for deletion using wrong syntax