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Sexual consent and human rights;
Thymos;
4(2), 99-102,
Oct 01 2010
The basic human right to sexual autonomy and self-determination encompasses two sides: it enshrines both the right to engage in wanted sexuality on the one hand, and the right to be free and protected from unwanted sexuality, from sexual abuse and sexual violence on the other.
This concept elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights, in the light of European legal consensus, suggests that the age of consent for sexual relations (outside of relationships of authority and outside of pornography and prostitution) should be set between 12 and 16 years. In any event the age of criminal responsibility should be the same as the age of sexual consent.
The basic human right to sexual autonomy and self-determination encompasses two sides: it enshrines both the right to engage in wanted sexuality on the one hand, and the right to be free and protected from unwanted sexuality, from sexual abuse and sexual violence on the other.
This concept elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights, in the light of European legal consensus, suggests that the age of consent for sexual relations (outside of relationships of authority and outside of pornography and prostitution) should be set between 12 and 16 years. In any event the age of criminal responsibility should be the same as the age of sexual consent.
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Sexuality, Youth Protection & Human Rights
The study examines the extent to which common sexual offences concerning minors do protect this proposed comprehensive right to sexual self-determination. The analysis is based upon the findings of natural and social science as well as an extensive and detailed international survey of national legal provisions.
The study examines the extent to which common sexual offences concerning minors do protect this proposed comprehensive right to sexual self-determination. The analysis is based upon the findings of natural and social science as well as an extensive and detailed international survey of national legal provisions.
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The 17-year-old Child An Absurdity of the Late 20th Century
No language in the world ever used the term “child” for persons beyond their early teens. No person beyond its early teens is a “child”.
It was the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 which first did away with the distinction between children and adolescents and labelled all minors under 18 “child” (Art. 1).
The European Commission took this concept over into the criminal law area when it proposed an EU-Framework Decision on Combating the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography in December 2000. This framework-decision obliges all the member states of the European Union to create certain sexual offences which goes far beyond what is known in that area in any European state so far.
The proposal of the Commission defined as “child” every person up to its 18th birthday (Art. 1 lit. a). It did not differentiate in any way between various age groups, i.e. it did not distinguish between children on the one hand and adolescents on the other. The proposal treated a 17-year-old young man in the same way as a 5 year old child.
This implementation of the same criteria for sexual protection and abuse to a five-year-old child and a 17-year-old adolescent leads to absurd and dangerous consequences.
No language in the world ever used the term “child” for persons beyond their early teens. No person beyond its early teens is a “child”.
It was the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 which first did away with the distinction between children and adolescents and labelled all minors under 18 “child” (Art. 1).
The European Commission took this concept over into the criminal law area when it proposed an EU-Framework Decision on Combating the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Child Pornography in December 2000. This framework-decision obliges all the member states of the European Union to create certain sexual offences which goes far beyond what is known in that area in any European state so far.
The proposal of the Commission defined as “child” every person up to its 18th birthday (Art. 1 lit. a). It did not differentiate in any way between various age groups, i.e. it did not distinguish between children on the one hand and adolescents on the other. The proposal treated a 17-year-old young man in the same way as a 5 year old child.
This implementation of the same criteria for sexual protection and abuse to a five-year-old child and a 17-year-old adolescent leads to absurd and dangerous consequences.
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Goodbye To All That
"The intimacy that frequently took place was very seldom between an older boy and the object of his affection - that would have spoiled the romantic illusion - but almost always between boys of the same age who were not in love, and used each other as convenient sex-instruments. So the atmosphere was always heavy with romance of a conventional early-Victorian type, complicated by cynicism and foulness."
"The school consisted of about six hundred boys, whose chief interests were games [sports] and romantic friendships."
"The intimacy that frequently took place was very seldom between an older boy and the object of his affection - that would have spoiled the romantic illusion - but almost always between boys of the same age who were not in love, and used each other as convenient sex-instruments. So the atmosphere was always heavy with romance of a conventional early-Victorian type, complicated by cynicism and foulness."
"The school consisted of about six hundred boys, whose chief interests were games [sports] and romantic friendships."
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Sexual Preference for 14-Year-Olds as a Mental Disorder: You Can’t Be Serious!!;
Archives of Sexual Behavior (published on line);
2010, March 4,
This letter addresses two papers by the DSM-V Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup member Ray Blanchard published in this Journal. [...]
A series of biased terms or logically frail arguments are provided for including hebephilia as a mental disorder.
This letter addresses two papers by the DSM-V Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup member Ray Blanchard published in this Journal. [...]
A series of biased terms or logically frail arguments are provided for including hebephilia as a mental disorder.
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Is Pedophilia a Mental Disorder?;
Archives of Sexual Behavior;
31(6), 467 - 471
Conclusion:
Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today.
The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM.
Conclusion:
Sexual arousal patterns to children are subjectively reported and physiologically demonstrable in a substantial minority of “normal” people. Historically, they have been common and accepted in varying cultures at varying times. This does not mean that they must be accepted culturally and legally today.
The question is: Do they constitute a mental illness? Not unless we declare a lot of people in many cultures and in much of the past to be mentally ill. And certainly not by the criteria of DSM.
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Hebephilia is a Mental Disorder?
The proposed inclusion of a hebephilic sexual orientation (early pubescent males and/or females) in DSM-5 compromises the scientific credibility of psychiatry. Moralism about the age of an acceptable sexual partner drives this proposal. It ignores common patterns of sexual arousal, cultural variability, and historic precedents. It blurs the domains of psychiatry and law. The age of sexual consent is 14 in much of Europe. An example of the new "mentally disordered" would be a 19 year old with a consenting 14 year old. Where sexual interaction is legally accepted, but pathologized as mental disorder, psychiatry attempts to act as an agent of social control.
The proposed inclusion of a hebephilic sexual orientation (early pubescent males and/or females) in DSM-5 compromises the scientific credibility of psychiatry. Moralism about the age of an acceptable sexual partner drives this proposal. It ignores common patterns of sexual arousal, cultural variability, and historic precedents. It blurs the domains of psychiatry and law. The age of sexual consent is 14 in much of Europe. An example of the new "mentally disordered" would be a 19 year old with a consenting 14 year old. Where sexual interaction is legally accepted, but pathologized as mental disorder, psychiatry attempts to act as an agent of social control.
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The Trauma Myth;
Archives of Sexual Behavior
Book review of: The Trauma Myth, By Susan A. Clancy. Basic Books, New York, 2009.
The headline, press release, book title message trumpeted here is: Most children who experience sexual contact with adults are not traumatized at the time of the experience. [...]
Nevertheless, Clancy repeatedly reminds us how evil this non-traumatic (at the time) experience actually is. This moral mantra is identified as the catalyst of later trauma: ‘‘It is the act of sexual abuse and not the damage it causes that makes it wrong’’ (p. 185)
Book review of: The Trauma Myth, By Susan A. Clancy. Basic Books, New York, 2009.
The headline, press release, book title message trumpeted here is: Most children who experience sexual contact with adults are not traumatized at the time of the experience. [...]
Nevertheless, Clancy repeatedly reminds us how evil this non-traumatic (at the time) experience actually is. This moral mantra is identified as the catalyst of later trauma: ‘‘It is the act of sexual abuse and not the damage it causes that makes it wrong’’ (p. 185)
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Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness,
Dec 27 2010
What the battle over DSM-5 should make clear to all of us—professional and layman alike—is that psychiatric diagnosis will probably always be laden with uncertainty, that the labels doctors give us for our suffering will forever be at least as much the product of negotiations around a conference table as investigations at a lab bench.
Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), [...] wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.”
What the battle over DSM-5 should make clear to all of us—professional and layman alike—is that psychiatric diagnosis will probably always be laden with uncertainty, that the labels doctors give us for our suffering will forever be at least as much the product of negotiations around a conference table as investigations at a lab bench.
Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), [...] wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.”
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Finding The Right Rehab – A Buyer’s Guide
Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Thousands blindly walk into addiction treatment in expensive rehab centres and find that the reality doesn't meet expectations. ...
If you're considering rehab treatment, first check our ultimate guide for complete instructions on how to find the right rehab centre for you. ...
A rehab stay normally follows the sequence Detox > Rehab > Aftercare.
Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Thousands blindly walk into addiction treatment in expensive rehab centres and find that the reality doesn't meet expectations. ...
If you're considering rehab treatment, first check our ultimate guide for complete instructions on how to find the right rehab centre for you. ...
A rehab stay normally follows the sequence Detox > Rehab > Aftercare.
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Architects of Oppression
The history of the child sex abuse witch hunt is chronicled from the times of Anthony Comstock and J. Edgar Hoover to the NCMEC of the present, including the influence of Kenneth Lanting, Ernie Allen and others.
The history of the child sex abuse witch hunt is chronicled from the times of Anthony Comstock and J. Edgar Hoover to the NCMEC of the present, including the influence of Kenneth Lanting, Ernie Allen and others.
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Human Rights and the Denial of Sexual Freedom
René Guyon had the following text privately printed in Bangkok in the form of a rather flimsy brochure. He then sent it to all European and American sexologists whose addresses he knew. [...] As a public service, we are here providing the full text of our own copy. - Ipce.
[...] Human dignity is no more affected by sexual acts than it is by individual preferences in food or in recreation. It is an infantile stratagem of the puritans to pretend that there is any "indignity" in living Sexually outside the range of their childish and inexperienced conceptions. [...]
Modern men and women proclaim and loudly repeat that they no longer wish to be slaves. Yet the anti-sexual mores and laws have established for them a servitude from which they suffer at all ages of their lives. They are the slaves of the prohibitory laws that govern them. [...]
The Sexual Freedom which I have proposed is that which rests firmly upon the reciprocal consent of the parties involved in the sexual act or any of its varieties. [...]
René Guyon had the following text privately printed in Bangkok in the form of a rather flimsy brochure. He then sent it to all European and American sexologists whose addresses he knew. [...] As a public service, we are here providing the full text of our own copy. - Ipce.
[...] Human dignity is no more affected by sexual acts than it is by individual preferences in food or in recreation. It is an infantile stratagem of the puritans to pretend that there is any "indignity" in living Sexually outside the range of their childish and inexperienced conceptions. [...]
Modern men and women proclaim and loudly repeat that they no longer wish to be slaves. Yet the anti-sexual mores and laws have established for them a servitude from which they suffer at all ages of their lives. They are the slaves of the prohibitory laws that govern them. [...]
The Sexual Freedom which I have proposed is that which rests firmly upon the reciprocal consent of the parties involved in the sexual act or any of its varieties. [...]
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Glossary of Inappropriate Scientific and Professional Terms
Sexological research and training are often hampered by traditional terms that contain hidden value judgements or are even openly ideological. Originally, they were part of semantic strategies by which various religious, legal, medical, and pedagogic "experts" tried to impose their professional interests or moral convictions upon the general public. In addition, there are many imprecise and misleading terms still current in our field, so that it is often extremely difficult to describe sexual matters in an objective way. In any case, today the following terms should be avoided:
Sexological research and training are often hampered by traditional terms that contain hidden value judgements or are even openly ideological. Originally, they were part of semantic strategies by which various religious, legal, medical, and pedagogic "experts" tried to impose their professional interests or moral convictions upon the general public. In addition, there are many imprecise and misleading terms still current in our field, so that it is often extremely difficult to describe sexual matters in an objective way. In any case, today the following terms should be avoided:
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Historical Roots of Sexual Oppression;
pp. 3-27
A short history of sexual oppression in Europe from ancient to modern times, offering many illuminating anecdotes and examples.
A short history of sexual oppression in Europe from ancient to modern times, offering many illuminating anecdotes and examples.
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Sex and Society;
Sex Atlas, 1983, The Continuum Publishing Company, New York
Human beings are "social animals", and their habits, desires, hopes, fears, and beliefs are shaped by the various societies into which they are born. This is also true of their sexual attitudes and behaviors. People are born with a certain potential for sexual expression, but this potential can be realized in a great variety of ways. Indeed, in sexually repressive societies it may well remain partially or completely unrealized.
The sexual behavior of men and women reflects not only their personal tastes, but, to a large extent, also the basic values of the society or social group to which they belong.
No matter how much they may differ as individuals, their moral sense is always shaped by the underlying assumptions of their whole culture.
Human beings are "social animals", and their habits, desires, hopes, fears, and beliefs are shaped by the various societies into which they are born. This is also true of their sexual attitudes and behaviors. People are born with a certain potential for sexual expression, but this potential can be realized in a great variety of ways. Indeed, in sexually repressive societies it may well remain partially or completely unrealized.
The sexual behavior of men and women reflects not only their personal tastes, but, to a large extent, also the basic values of the society or social group to which they belong.
No matter how much they may differ as individuals, their moral sense is always shaped by the underlying assumptions of their whole culture.
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Critical Dictionary of Sexology
Erwin J. Haeberle
Critical Dictionary of Sexology
This is a work-in-progress. New words and their definitions will be added at irregular intervals as the need arises. Suggestions from our readers are always welcome. If you want to make a suggestion, please contact the author at HaeberleE@web.de.
Erwin J. Haeberle
Critical Dictionary of Sexology
This is a work-in-progress. New words and their definitions will be added at irregular intervals as the need arises. Suggestions from our readers are always welcome. If you want to make a suggestion, please contact the author at HaeberleE@web.de.
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Whores of the Court: The Fraud of Psychiatric Testimony and The Rape Of American Justice;
352 pp.,
Feb 01 1997
In this provocative and well-researched book, Margaret Hagen, Ph.D, reveals how expert psychological testimony is a total fraud, showing how the courts have increasingly embraced not a cutting-edge science but, instead, a discipline that represents a terrifying retreat into fantasy and hearsay; a discipline propelled by powerful propaganda, arrogance, and greed. Dr. Hagen sounds a clarion wake-up call, offering some startling – and much-needed – recommendations about how we can reclaim our own ability to judge and supplying vital advice on how we can protect ourselves from the ravages of psychological testimony in our own lives. “A damning indictment of the psychologizing – and undermining – of the American legal system. With righteous wrath and devastating wit, this sweeping critique should stir national debate.” Publishers Weekly
This book is freely available for download.
In this provocative and well-researched book, Margaret Hagen, Ph.D, reveals how expert psychological testimony is a total fraud, showing how the courts have increasingly embraced not a cutting-edge science but, instead, a discipline that represents a terrifying retreat into fantasy and hearsay; a discipline propelled by powerful propaganda, arrogance, and greed. Dr. Hagen sounds a clarion wake-up call, offering some startling – and much-needed – recommendations about how we can reclaim our own ability to judge and supplying vital advice on how we can protect ourselves from the ravages of psychological testimony in our own lives. “A damning indictment of the psychologizing – and undermining – of the American legal system. With righteous wrath and devastating wit, this sweeping critique should stir national debate.” Publishers Weekly
This book is freely available for download.
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Incest, paedophilia 'like being gay', judge says ;
Fairfax Media, New Zealand,
Jul 10 2014
Judge Garry Neilson compared incest and paedophilia to homosexuality.
A Sydney judge has compared incest and paedophilia to homosexuality, saying the community may no longer see sexual contact between siblings and between adults and children as "unnatural" or "taboo".
Judge Garry Neilson compared incest and paedophilia to homosexuality.
A Sydney judge has compared incest and paedophilia to homosexuality, saying the community may no longer see sexual contact between siblings and between adults and children as "unnatural" or "taboo".
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The Efficacy Of Severe Child Pornography Sentencing;
Temple Law Review
Empirical Validity Or Political Rhetoric?
[USA's] Congress’s appetite for expanding the scope of child pornography laws and increasing the length of prison sentences for child pornography offenders endures, despite other officials involved in federal sentencing questioning the necessity and proportionality of severe sentences.
Emotions run high concerning issues involving the sexual exploitation of children. Moral panic has led Congress to pursue an ever-expanding federal regime of broadening the scope of child pornography laws and substantially increasing the length of sentences.
Based on an assessment of the empirical evidence, the Congressional stance is best characterized as political rhetoric. Overall, empirical research fails to establish a correlation, much less a causative link, between viewing child pornography and contact offenses against children.
Empirical Validity Or Political Rhetoric?
[USA's] Congress’s appetite for expanding the scope of child pornography laws and increasing the length of prison sentences for child pornography offenders endures, despite other officials involved in federal sentencing questioning the necessity and proportionality of severe sentences.
Emotions run high concerning issues involving the sexual exploitation of children. Moral panic has led Congress to pursue an ever-expanding federal regime of broadening the scope of child pornography laws and substantially increasing the length of sentences.
Based on an assessment of the empirical evidence, the Congressional stance is best characterized as political rhetoric. Overall, empirical research fails to establish a correlation, much less a causative link, between viewing child pornography and contact offenses against children.
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Public Safety, Individual Liberty, and Suspect Science;
Temple Law Review
In recent decades, federal, state, and local governments have become increasingly restrictive on the freedom and privacy of those labeled sexually violent predators (“SVP”s) in hopes of preventing further sexual violence. The most commonly used tools to manage SVPs are involuntary commitments for mental treatment, sex offender registration, and residency restrictions (hereinafter “SVP laws”).
This article critically analyzes whether future dangerousness assessments using actuarial tools are responsive to legal standards contained in SVP laws and whether courts, when confronted with such assessments, are adequately engaging in the gatekeeper role to accept only good science considering the evidentiary benchmarks of Daubert and Frye.
Specifically, this article concludes that because of uncritical reliance upon actuarial assessments of future dangerousness, legal professionals have largely failed to grasp the significant empirical limitations of these tests.
In recent decades, federal, state, and local governments have become increasingly restrictive on the freedom and privacy of those labeled sexually violent predators (“SVP”s) in hopes of preventing further sexual violence. The most commonly used tools to manage SVPs are involuntary commitments for mental treatment, sex offender registration, and residency restrictions (hereinafter “SVP laws”).
This article critically analyzes whether future dangerousness assessments using actuarial tools are responsive to legal standards contained in SVP laws and whether courts, when confronted with such assessments, are adequately engaging in the gatekeeper role to accept only good science considering the evidentiary benchmarks of Daubert and Frye.
Specifically, this article concludes that because of uncritical reliance upon actuarial assessments of future dangerousness, legal professionals have largely failed to grasp the significant empirical limitations of these tests.
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The Trauma Myth by Susan Clancy (book review and commentary by Ray Harris)
Ray notes that many victims are not heared because their story does not fit with the generally accepted trauma model of, among others, David Finkelhor.
He notes that Clancy indeed does listen to the victims, but that she also gives a moral judgement.
"Always, always listen to the victim. If they tell you they thought it was wrong, but liked it and went along with it, then accept what they say and validate their experience.
Whatever you do, don’t become morally outraged on their behalf because then they might to begin to doubt themselves and enter the spiral of negative thoughts that are the real cause of stress.
[...] Dare I suggest that more harm, more trauma has been caused by the self-appointed moral protectors than by the the actual abuse itself."
Ray notes that many victims are not heared because their story does not fit with the generally accepted trauma model of, among others, David Finkelhor.
He notes that Clancy indeed does listen to the victims, but that she also gives a moral judgement.
"Always, always listen to the victim. If they tell you they thought it was wrong, but liked it and went along with it, then accept what they say and validate their experience.
Whatever you do, don’t become morally outraged on their behalf because then they might to begin to doubt themselves and enter the spiral of negative thoughts that are the real cause of stress.
[...] Dare I suggest that more harm, more trauma has been caused by the self-appointed moral protectors than by the the actual abuse itself."
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Paedophilia: bringing dark desires to light;
The Guardian,
Jan 03 2013
Not all paedophiles are child molesters, and vice versa: by no means every paedophile acts on his impulses, and many people who sexually abuse children are not exclusively or primarily sexually attracted to them. In fact, "true" paedophiles are estimated by some experts to account for only 20% of sexual abusers. Nor are paedophiles necessarily violent: no firm links have so far been established between paedophilia and aggressive or psychotic symptoms.
[...]
there is a growing conviction, notably in Canada, that paedophilia should probably be classified as a distinct sexual orientation, like heterosexuality or homosexuality.
Not all paedophiles are child molesters, and vice versa: by no means every paedophile acts on his impulses, and many people who sexually abuse children are not exclusively or primarily sexually attracted to them. In fact, "true" paedophiles are estimated by some experts to account for only 20% of sexual abusers. Nor are paedophiles necessarily violent: no firm links have so far been established between paedophilia and aggressive or psychotic symptoms.
[...]
there is a growing conviction, notably in Canada, that paedophilia should probably be classified as a distinct sexual orientation, like heterosexuality or homosexuality.