My comments
Submitted by Mark on March 5 2001 22:04:01
In reply to Comments, Concerns and Partners Needed submitted by Bach on March 5 2001 15:23:14
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The statement is excellent! Some comments: Like others, I have a problem with the "at-risk" sentence. How about: "how can we really make true progress if we are shutting out the very people who are thought to be at-risk in harming them?" Also, I would like to call attention to the severe harm that is currently being done to young people (i.e., adolescents) who are attracted to younger children. That is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. In the book "Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions," Jay Feierman writes that although the young gay person now has a myriad of materials and supports to help him (or her) come to terms with and live out his homosexuality in a "socially respectable" way, such resources are simply unavailable to "an adolescent or a young-adult male who is dealing with preferential sexual attraction to children or younger adolescents." (Not to mention the horrible "therapy" they may have to endure if they run afoul of the law.) This may make the ICF statement more complicated, but I'd like to see something like: "...searching together for solutions to address the needs of the community for young people to be safe (including those who are attracted to younger children), parents to feel comfortable,..." Along with others, I would take issue with the statement that sexual activity will necessarily cause terrible harm. Of course it has the potential to, but the scientific evidence is pretty clear that in many cases it causes no harm at all. However, the people we are trying to reach will not be aware of the literature, and the ICF statement is probably not the place to educate. The statement that we must refrain from sex because it will cause harm may be necessary for non-minor-attracted people to buy into it. This brings up a fundamental issue of dialog: how much do we say up front for integrity's sake, and how much do we keep to ourselves until people are ready to hear it? I do think that something like ICF could happen, and that now is the time for it to begin. Mark |
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