A paraphilia involves persistent sexual arousal toward something seen as unusual or outside the norm. This can vary over time, place, and culture.
More common paraphilias include an interest in watching people who are unaware of being watched while they undress or engage in sexual activities (voyeurism); exposing one’s genitals to people who are not suspecting, for example in public (exhibitionism); or having a sexual interest in objects or body parts that are not genitals, such as feet (fetishism).
This section focuses primarily on a sexual attraction to children. But if you feel you may have other paraphilias, you may still find some of the exercises in this module useful, you will just need to adapt them for whatever causes the sexual arousal.
A sexual attraction to children
When it comes to terminology, it’s important to know that not all sexual interests are the same and they can often be mislabelled. For example, the media often uses terms like ‘paedophile’ to refer to anyone who commits a sexual offence against a child, but they are not the same. Having a sexual interest in children doesn’t automatically mean a person will abuse them. Research shows that many people convicted of child sexual offences don’t have a sexual preference for children.
Paedophilia
According to the International Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (ICD-11), paedophilic disorder exists when someone has recurring, powerful sexual urges and fantasies involving prepubescent children, leading to actions or distress. This disorder relates to prepubescent children, not teenagers.
How people develop paedophilia is not fully understood and involves biological, social, and psychological factors. Genetics, brain development, learned behaviour, and attitudes towards sex and children all play a role.
Hebephilia and ephebophilia
Hebephilia refers to a sexual interest in early-puberty adolescents, while ephebophilia involves mid- to late-teen adolescents. These terms aren’t defined clinical disorders, but if the focus leads to problematic behaviour or distress lasting more than 6 months, they may meet criteria for a paraphilic disorder.
Sexual interest and preference
Sexual attraction varies greatly. Some people are attracted to different genders, ages, looks, and personalities. This diversity is normal. While for some people their sexual interest is only in one age group, for others they have interests in more than one. This diagram represents this cross-over.
