Child sexual abuse is a severe crime that has serious effects on the psychological development of minors. Most people use the terms “paedophile” and “paedophile” interchangeably to refer to those who carry out these types of acts, considering them synonymous.

However, although deeply linked, the two concepts do not refer to exactly the same thing. That is why in this article we propose to distinguish and show the differences between pedophilia and pederasty .

Defining Pedophilia

Pedophilia or paedophilia is a paraphilia, that is, a disorder of sexual inclination characterized by the presence of recurrent fantasies that produce a high level of sexual excitement in which the object of desire is an object, persons or nonconsenting entities or a situation of humiliation and suffering of oneself and others. Experiencing such fantasies may lead to their realization and/or feelings of intense discomfort for the person who suffers them.

In the specific case of pedophilia, the object of desire or what causes sexual attraction is pre-pubescent boys or girls . Specifically, it can be considered a chronophilia, because there is a great difference between the age of the subject and the object of desire. For its diagnosis it is necessary that the subject is older than sixteen years old and that the victim or object of desire is at least five years younger.

As a rule, the paedophile will seek contact with his object of desire, often resorting to pornographic images and stimulating himself based on his fantasies, but he does not have to try to have sexual relations .

What do we call pederasty?

As far as paedophiles are concerned, they are considered to be those individuals in whom the paedophile’s fantasies have been brought to reality. In other words, pederasty is the commission of a sexual abuse a minor s .

This abuse includes all conduct in which the child is used as a sexual object by an individual with whom there is an unequal relationship in terms of age, power or maturity.

This is a criminal practice punishable by law that can have serious repercussions on the present and/or future psychosocial and sexual development of the child who is attacked. Even if the sexual relationship is consented to by the minor, if the latter is under the age of sexual consent the act itself will be considered abuse, being classified as rape. Consensual sexual intercourse between subjects in their late teens with individuals at least 13 years old is not considered as such.

Common elements and main differences

Once the definitions of both pedophilia and pederasty are displayed, it is easy to establish what elements they have in common and how they differ.

In both cases, we are talking about the presence of an illicit link between an adult and a minor, with a romantic or sexual attraction on the part of the former towards the latter. This attraction occurs continuously over time, persisting for at least six months.

The main difference is in the fact that sexual attraction is or is not concretized in an action . While a pedophile can only feel the urge and maintain recurrent fantasies of a sexual nature in which his object of desire is a minor, a pedophile is considered to be one who has committed the sexual act itself. In other words, while the paedophile has had sex with a child, the paedophile does not actually perform the act (in which case he would become a paedophile).

Thus not all pedophiles are pedophiles , while as a rule every pedophile is a pedophile. However, this is not always true either, since it is possible to find cases of sexual abuse of children without the children being the object of sexual preference by the adult.

Criminal liability

Pedophilia is a disorder of sexual inclination or choice of sex object, with limited choice of sex object. However, as a general rule, the person who suffers from it is perfectly capable of realizing what it means for the minors involved , the damage caused and the fact that it is a serious crime defined by law. Their decision-making capacity has not been altered and they are therefore fully responsible for their actions.

In this way, paedophilia and various activities carried out by paedophiles (corruption of minors, creation, possession or possession of child pornography, etc.) are punishable by law and are considered to be fully attributable to most of these individuals.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
  • Echeburúa, E. and Guerricaechevarría, C. (2005). Sexual abuse in childhood: victims and aggressors. A clinical approach. 2nd edition. Ariel, Barcelona.