UNDERSTANDING PEDOPHILIC DISORDER

There have been lots of debates on what exactly pedophilic disorder is especially in Africa where every form of psychological disorder is easily explained by spiritualism or blamed on the devil. Before explaining this topic in detail, let’s start by examining the data as well as what the law says about sex abuse and related offenses in Nigeria.

Despite an increase in activism, justice is rare: Nigeria, a country of 206 million people, had just 32 rape convictions between 2019 and 2020, according to data from Nigeria’s national anti-trafficking agency.

In Nigeria, more than 700 cases of sexual assault were reported between January and May 2020, with numbers surging after a temporary lockdown began in March, according to Nigerian police.

The government declared a nationwide state of emergency on rape in June after a series of harrowing crimes. On May 27, Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old microbiology student, bled to death after being brutally raped in a church in Benin City. Days later, another student, 18-year-old Barakat Bello, was gang-raped and stabbed to death during a robbery at her home in Ibadan. On June 4, four masked men raped a 12-year-old girl in her home in Lagos.

NIGERIA LAW & RAPE/PEDOPHILES

Here are a few points I could put together after gathering information on this topic, there could be a need to talk to a lawyer or get a copy of the constitution to be clear:

• The Criminal Code Act (Criminal Code) is applicable in the southern states of the country. 

• An attempt to commit rape is an offense under the Criminal Code and it is a felony, punishable with imprisonment for fourteen years, with or without caning. -Section 359 of the Criminal Code.  

• Section 358 of the Criminal Code provides imprisonment for life, with or without caning as punishment for rape. 

• The Penal Code Act (Penal Code) is applicable in the Northern states of Nigeria.
• The punishment for rape is fourteen years under the Penal code.

• Neither the criminal nor Penal Code recognizes men or boys as victims of rape. It also doesn’t recognize marital rape. It also indicates that rape can only be committed by persons of the male gender.

• The Child Rights Act (CRA) is a Federal law that was enacted to protect the rights of children. It has been domesticated in a number of states in Nigeria.  Section 31 (1) & (2) of the CRA provides that any person who shall have sexual intercourse with a child commits an offense of rape and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.

A recent story in Nigeria is that of a popular Nollywood actor who molested a 14 years old girl while she was 7 and came back 7 years later in 2021 to molest her again, unfortunately, the law does not recognize touching, fondling, or sexually harassing 14 years old as sexual abuse(at least that is the heated debate that has been ongoing for days in Nigeria).

In understanding Pedophilic disorder, it’s important to understand where exactly the foundation of this issue, I will start by throwing more light on what exactly is sexual dysfunction

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION 

Any form of persistent or recurrent difficulty experienced by an individual during any phase of the sexual cycle (Desire, Arousal, Climax & Resolution), that prevents the individual or couple from experiencing satisfaction from the sexual activity. 

According to research, 43% of women and 31% of men have some degree of sexual dysfunction. Before a condition can be termed a disorder, it must have been going on consistently in the person’s life and affecting his/her functionality or causing a form of distress for not less than six months. 

Generally, sexual dysfunctions are divided into three:

1. Gender dysphoria: Called gender identity disorder in DSM-iv. A kind of distress or difficulty experienced by individuals when their biologically assigned sex does not align with their gender identity. For example, someone who has a vagina might feel like she is a man who is being trapped in a female body. 
2. Sexual disorders: Psychologists define sexual disorders as a group of dysfunctions caused by a person’s inability to fully engage in and derive pleasure from sex. Some of these are peculiar to men and some to women.  Some of these disorders are:

• Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (No longer in DSM 5, but still recognized by some group).
• Female Sexual Interest / Arousal Disorder.
• Erectile disorder.
• Premature Ejaculation.
• Delayed Ejaculation.
• Female orgasmic Disorder/Anorgasmia.

NOTE: ORGASMIC CYCLE: Lubrication, Swelling, Response, Excitement 

• Dyspareunia: Painful intercourse
• Vaginismus: Involuntary tightening of the vagina muscles 

3. Paraphilia: Paraphilia is abnormal sexual behaviors or impulses characterized by intense sexual fantasies and urges that keep coming back. Paraphilic disorders are recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors that are distressing or disabling and that involve inanimate objects, children or non-consenting adults, or suffering or humiliation of oneself or the partner with the potential to cause harm. DSM-V recognizes that people could have paraphilia (Kink) without having a paraphilic disorder. There’s also a need to note that there are differences between kinks and paraphilias.  Here are the different types of paraphilic disorder:

• Pedophilic disorder: Sexual interest in children 
• Exhibitionism: Arousal from flashing or unsolicited showing private parts to unsuspecting persons or strangers. more common with men.
• Fetishism: Sexual attraction to objects; nylon, plastics, shoes, socks, etc 
• Frotteurism: Sexual Attraction to the unusual body part 
• Masochism: Sexual urges and satisfaction from being punished 
• Sadosims: Sexual urges or satisfaction from receiving punishment 
• BDSM: Bondage, dominion, sadosim, and masochism 
• Transvetitism: Erotic interest in crossdressing 
• Voyeurism: Spying on people engaging in sexual intercourse

PEDOPHILIC DISORDER

What is pedophilic disorder:

The word pedophilia is derived from the Greek words “paidos” (child) and “philia” (love).

Pedophilic disorder is a psychological disorder, a form of paraphilic disorder in which someone has an unusual sexual attraction towards a minor, this attraction usually leads to a compulsive desire to sexually abuse a minor. Someone who has this kind of intense and persistent, compulsive desire and has acted on it is called a pedophile. 

This means that it is not everyone who has this desire that is pedophiles, there are non-offending pedophiles who have these desires and are trying/struggling to control or suppress them to avoid offending or abusing minors.

Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the DSM-5, and the manual defines it as a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or that cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonal difficulty.

According to UNICEF data, 1 in 4 Nigerian girls are sexually assaulted before the age of 18.

An estimated 20% of American children have been sexually molested, making pedophilia a common paraphilia. Offenders are usually family friends or relatives.

Also, child sexual abusers are not necessarily pedophiles, someone can sexually abuse a child without being a pedophile. According to DSM-V, there are certain criteria that must be met before someone could be termed a pedophile:

1. Must have been going on for at least over a period of at least 6 months. That is the recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children (generally age 13 years or younger).
2. The person has acted on these sexual urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
3. The person is at least age 16 years and at least 5 years older than the child or children in Criterion A. (Note: This does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old).
4. In order to be diagnosed with a Paraphilic Disorder, the paraphilia needs to be causing significant distress or impairment, or involve personal harm or risk of harm to others.
5. There are exclusive and not exclusive types: Exclusive type (attracted only to children) Non-exclusive type(attracted to both children and adults). The sexual attraction could be to males, females, or to both.

Characteristics of a pedophile:

1. Types of activities vary and may include just looking at a child or undressing and touching a child. However, acts often involve oral sex or touching of the genitals of the child or the offender. 
2. Adult males with the pedophilic disorder have reported noticing their sexual interest in children during or around puberty, which is the same time that males become aware of their sexual orientation or whether they’re interested in women or men.
3. An individual must be at least 16 years of age and 5 years older than the child to be diagnosed with the disorder. 
4. The prevalence of Pedophilic Disorder in the general population is unknown. Estimates for the highest percentage in males is thought to be 3-5% and in females is thought to be a small fraction of the rate in males.
5. Pedophiles may limit their activity to exposing themselves to a child (sometimes known as flashing), touching and fondling the child gently, undressing the child and looking at them, or masturbating in front of the child.
6. This disorder sometimes involves recurring sexual dreams, behaviors, or urges concerning children that are 13 years old or younger. 
7. Pedophiles usually go to playgrounds or public places where they lured unsuspecting children and fantasize while watching the children or record them for sexual satisfaction when they are alone.
8. Children are particularly vulnerable to sexual predators, such as pedophiles, on the internet. Forensic science research reveals two models of pedophilia on the internet: a trust-based seductive model, in which a pedophile will use the internet to build a relationship of trust with a child, with the end goal of an in-person meeting, and a direct sexual model, which is generally a shorter relationship in which the pedophile will bring up sexual activities and solicit images with the minor.
9. According to most sexuality educators and associations around the world, they strongly support efforts to criminally prosecute those who sexually abuse and exploit children and adolescents, and “also support continued efforts to develop treatments for those with pedophilic disorder with the goal of preventing future acts of abuse. This is the right thing for every sane and progressive society to do.
10. Note(Do not talk about this point on air)If someone feels no guilt, shame, or anxiety about their sexual urges, does not have any limitations in daily functioning because of the fantasies or urges, and has never actually acted on the urges, they are said to have a pedophilic sexual orientation, but would not be diagnosed with Pedophilic Disorder.
11. Culture and religion are some of the major barriers to a conclusion on researches as well as eradication of this disorder as some parts of the world attach their faith and values to this practice. For example, E. E. Evans- Pritchard recorded that male Azande warriors (in the northern Congo) routinely took on boy-wives between the ages of twelve and twenty, who helped with household tasks and participated in intercrural (non-penetrative) sex with their older husbands. The practice had died out by the early 20th century.

Possible Causes of Pedophilic disorder

1. There is some evidence that abnormal neurodevelopmental issues during fetal development may lead to an increased probability of developing the disorder.
2. Studies suggest that children who feel uncared for or lonely may be at higher risk for sexual abuse.
3. Other neurological differences found in pedophiles included lower intelligence levels and the lower the intelligence level, the younger the preferred victim.
4. A substantial number of studies have indicated that pedophiles have cerebral abnormalities found in the temporal lobes (Hucker et al., 1986). Many Serotonin agonist differences were also found in pedophiles over-tested control subjects.
5. Anomalies in psychological development, the desire to overpower sexual partners, and the belief that sex is a necessary requisite for affection also found was an increased level of pedophilia in those people who sustained serious head injuries as young children, especially prior to age six. 
6. Another finding was that more pedophiles had mothers with psychiatric illnesses than the average person (Hall & Hall, 2007).
7. Some pedophiles were also found to have chromosomal abnormalities. Out of 41 men studied, seven of them were found to have chromosomal abnormalities, including Klinefelter syndrome, which is a condition in which a male will have an extra X chromosome in their genetic code (Berlin & Krout, 1994).
8. Adult males with the pedophilic disorder often report having been sexually abused as children, but a cause and effect relationship between the two has not been proven at this time.
9. There appears to be a relationship between males with antisocial personality disorder and pedophilic disorder where the acting out behavior from the personality disorder involves sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors with children.

SIGNS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN A PEDOPHILE

• Ignoring social, emotional, or physical boundaries or limits, making others uncomfortable
• Ignoring limits set by a child/teen or keeping a child/teen from setting a limit, especially using teasing or belittling language in the process
• Insisting on physical contact (hugging, touching, kissing, tickling, wrestling with, or holding) when the child/teen doesn’t want it
• Turning to a child/teen for emotional or physical comfort by sharing personal or private information or activities that are normally shared with adults
• Frequently pointing out sexual images or telling inappropriate or suggestive jokes with children/teens present
• Repeatedly exposing a child/teen to adult sexual interactions
• Having “secret” interactions with children/teens (e.g., games, secret gifts, sharing drugs, alcohol, or sexual material) or spending excessive time emailing, texting, or calling children/teens
• Being overly interested in the sexuality of a particular child/teen (e.g., talks repeatedly about the child’s developing body or interferes with normal teen dating)
• Spending unusual amounts of uninterrupted isolated time alone with a child/teen
• Seeming too available or overindulgent with babysitting, outings, or gifts (e.g., frequently babysits different children for free, takes children on special outings alone, buys children/teens gifts, or gives them money for no apparent reason)
• Frequently walking in on children/teens in the bathroom
• Allowing children/teens to consistently get away with inappropriate behaviors
• Few/no age equivalent adult friendships/only friends are children/teens
• Adult’s age equivalent friends exhibit similar behaviors as listed above

TREATMENT OF PEDOPHILIC DISORDER

IN CONCLUSION

1. Stigmatization is one of the major reasons a pedophile will not want to come out.
2. Sentencing a pedophile is not enough, treatment is needed to save society.
3. Recognizing and treating pedophilic disorder is key to breaking the cycle of child sexual abuse.
4. Non- offending pedophiles need to stop hiding and seek help.
5. The long-run social, sexual, psychological, and other consequences of sexual assaulting a minor could run from generation to generation.
6. One can hardly heal from trauma without seeking help. Talking to therapists should be normalized.

Written by Dr. Tolulope Oko-Igaire.