pelican,
I did not say or indicate that pedophillia was OK. I pointed out it has been going on for centuries, in most societies.

It has been said that, in India, for a girl to be a virgin at age 12 she must have no father, uncles, brothers or cousins. There certainly is many girls that have serious problems from early pregnancies and even in our own aboriginal communities there have been reports of damage to girls from very early sex. How can a child of 3 have VD. The NT report revealed that.

The current inquiries reveal that many victims are badly mentally affected, but are all the young in other societies, where early sex and incest are normal, similarly effected? That could be most people in some societies.

I have yet to read anything that suggests that is the case. What about the cultures where the kids are sold off to slavers or into prostitution?

Do those that were involved in incest have serious mental problems like our westerners do?

Is it our hang ups brought on by religion that cause the trauma in our society.

I am afraid some do think as this poster wrote.
And sorry indy you most probably are a good bloke but post like yours here hide that well.
Please let us all NEVER fail to, troll or not take on a post like that.
Remember always some pedophiles are loved and trusted until after the crime.
Never ever let such words appear without rebutting them.
Any sexual crime against any one is dreadful and a crime.
To even write that to commit such a crime against a child?
Capital punishment nothing less.

Banjo
I did not at all imply you were condoning pedophilia, only that the points you raised are also used by some to normalise it.

I understand the historical context but don't agree that this is an East/West discussion or that these activities are seen as normal even by the inhabitants of those nations (except those who gain from it). Many in Africa, Middle East and Asia are fighting these entrenched cultural norms. Norms that are characterised by a huge power imbalance and lack of choice for the child. Children are not the possessions of adults.

Pelican,
Maybe it was the Americans that first brought our attention to the instances of mental trauma associated with pedophilia. I expect that students at boarding schools, etc. have been subject to sexual acts by other pupils and others for centuries in all parts of the world.

However in countries that have high pedophilia and incest the victims seemingly accept it as part of childhood and get on with their lives. I have never seen any writings where the trauma to victims is discussed. Japan is a very industrialized country and can hardly be termed backward. Yet I have not heard anything about trauma caused by pedophilia and incest there. Not that I am familiar with much news from Japan. I have read that in some societies mothers and even the older kids will mastabate a babies or toddlers genitals to calm them. It seems that close physical and sexual contact in these societies is quite normal.

Maybe other cultures are better equipped to handle such matters than we are. If one googles incest here there is many websites offering help for 'victims of incest'.

Suseonline Thanks for your comment. My male ego is shattered of course, but I do agree with you that offenders often were abused as children themselves. My post is aimed at the fundamental causes, the why which is so often overlooked in the passion of blame.
Needless to say many of the other posts seem to be from homophobic terrorists. One can only try.

When I read and hear of some of these awful crimes of sexual savagery and unmitigated violence, occasioned against women, girls and other young people, I often feel very ashamed indeed, for being of the male gender ?