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The Forum > Article Comments > Images of children: there's no harm in looking > Comments

Images of children: there's no harm in looking : Comments

By Bob Ryan, published 25/7/2017

The crime of child sexual abuse is not in the image, nor is it in the looking; it is in the abusive act itself.

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It is a very immature understanding of sex to assume that sex is only about gratification of sexual desire. It is mostly a symbolic act of wanting to embrace and become intimate with characteristics perceived to be possessed by the object of desire.

Looking at pictures of children may well be a symbolic act of a wish to return to childhood. Longingly looking is more about the longing than the looking. The desire to return to childhood is common in people who have had an unsatisfactory childhood and have not been able to leave it behind. There is, for many, ‘unfinished business’ with childhood and it is not unusual for those people to be fascinated with children. Just looking at images of children will never satisfy the emotional need but it does no harm to anyone but the viewer.

Moving beyond viewing to acting out those symbolic needs is a different story since it impinges upon the rights and freedom of children to develop and to freely choose. A person with a collection of thousands of images does a lot less damage than a father who sexually abuses his own daughter.

The outrage that people express about images is out of proportion and quite often covers an underlying sense of guilt about more profound harm that is done in the family home. It is much easier to point the finger than to face the reality of actual sexual abuse.
Posted by phanto, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 11:06:37 AM
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Exactly why is viewing and possessing freely available but proscribed images of children a criminal offence?

The author logically suggests that, if mere looking or possessing in itself causes no obvious damage, then it should not be an offence.

Those supporting criminalisation of the above behaviours generally argue that viewing such material either increases the risk of offending against children or is evidence of an unhealthy interest in sex with children. They also argue that if people pay for child porn (as opposed to looking at the freely available images the author is talking about) they create demand for the child pornography industry.

While there may be a case for liberalism, it is unlikely to happen in this case because the public generally regards sexualisation of children as unwholesome. The public also views those gaining gratification from looking at images of children as perverted. I can't see too many people putting their hands up for change.
Posted by Bren, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 11:17:10 AM
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Sexual abuse is an act of power, not merely sexual gratification. Child abuse is manifestly an act of power. Perving on pictures of young kids is a sublimated act of power, and yes, it may lead on to actual sexual abuse. I'm sure perverts would try to justify it, it's just pictures, nothing going on here, etc. Yeah, right.

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 11:48:34 AM
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NO HARM IN LOOKING!? Look pal, if there wasn't a market for this CRAP! THOSE POOR LITTLE BUGGERS WOULDN'T BE BUGGERED AND BASTARDISED!
AND EMOTIONALLY AND PHYSICALLY SCARRED FOR LIFE!
END OF STORY, CREEP!
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 25 July 2017 11:53:16 AM
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Just a quick couple of points while I work on a longer paper.
(1) I'm arguing that looking should not be a CRIMINAL offence. If the law wants to make it a lesser offence, it may do so.

(2) I note Alan B — again.
Posted by Robert99, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 1:38:40 PM
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Psychologists often ask their patients to respond with the first association-word that comes to mind:

Fork: knife (spoon)
Car: bicycle (truck)
Man: woman (animal)

Now in the 20th century, when the word "child" ("boy"/"girl") was mentioned, the associations would mostly be warm, pleasant, familial and benign.

But in this century, few can claim that their first word of association would not be "sex", or "abuse".

Neural connections work - they do not only study reality, but also co-create it!

Adults can no longer afford to look at children (other than their own), let alone play with them, for fear of implications - even when sexuality is the last thing on their mind. Children too can no longer benefit from the non-sexual attention of adults, which used to be part and parcel of life and healthy development. Why should adolescents, never having experienced otherwise, learn to associate and express attention with sexual-attention?

Phanto mentioned the desire to return to childhood and having ‘unfinished business’ with childhood. There is nothing wrong about it and it usually has nothing to do with sex, yet frustrating such non-sexual desires can over time turn them into sexual ones.

Finally, regarding nudity. Nudity is considered a sin and a cause for shame in the Abrahamic religions, which unnecessarily connects it with sex. Germany however, where public nudity is common, considered natural and not an offence, used to enjoy the least interest in sexuality and the least number of sex-crimes (until recently, due to Middle-Eastern immigration). Had natural and harmless curiosity not been bundled with sexuality, thus curbed and made to fester, then all sexual thoughts would have been far less in between.
Posted by Yuyutsu, Tuesday, 25 July 2017 2:30:26 PM
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