Not every pedophile is a rapist.

[Losty]

First of all, I want to make clear I am not a pedophile, nor I am an expert in the topic. I honestly do not know if it is considered a psychiatric or psychologic disorder, but I believe you are born that way, except maybe for some extreme cases of people who have been abused.

I just want to put my opinion out there, because I believe this is a taboo topic nobody ever discusses.

Society usually hates pedophiles, and wants to see them crushed and dead. This is one of the reasons I believe pedophiles dont seek for professional help or help from relatives. They are afraid of being judged. 

This is why I believe that governments should invest in campaigns, informing to the general public what pedophilia is, and motivating pedophiles to seek for help. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "Protecting kids is the main priority", and it is. If you help pedophiles control their disorder (since we cant cure it as of right now), chances are they will not abuse kids. Therefore, the kids will be safe too.

Have you ever wondered, how many people you have met through your life have been pedophiles? Maybe they are even married, with kids. I think we all have, we just dont know about it. Maybe even some of your friends.

What do you think?  

People who are attracted to kids don't choose to be that way. Whether they are born that way, or whether they developed it due to environmental factors in their early life, or whether it's a little of both, we do not know. We only know that they do not choose to have this attraction. 

They can, however, choose not to *act* on it. Whether that be by looking at child porn, statutory rape, or full on rape, I can imagine it can't be easy to completely suppress such a strong compulsions. I don't think it is something they can do on their own without intensive psychological care, which they should seek. 

People who are attracted to children, and who, instead of acting on it, come forward to seek help instead, should be applauded for doing the difficult yet moral thing. Not shamed for an attraction they have no control over.

I agree with you. I would make one distinction though. When I've read anonymous comments from people who claim to be pedophiles not only do they not seem to have a strong urge to act on their desires but most seem to be the opposite. They're sexually attracted to children but they don't want to have sex with them because they have no desire to violate another human being or to hurt a child.

That to me is a huge distinction that people often mistakenly do not make between rapists and pedophiles. A pedophile is a person who by no choice of their own happens to be sexually attracted to children. A rapist is a person who willing robs a person of their own bodily autonomy because they wish to exert their power. I'm not saying a rapist can never be a pedophile but being a pedophile doesn't make a person a rapist. I would wager that most rapists who rape children are not pedophiles. That's just my opinion based on what I've read in the past. I don't have any evidence and I'm clearly not psychiatrist.