Teresa- Among the aggressions suffered by the child, there is pedophilia. What changes in the child’s behavior may indicate that he or she is a victim of a pedophile?

João Roberto – Pedophilia is a personality disorder that is difficult to detect, especially because there is a haze of silence that gags the victim and protects the molester. It is a mental and personality disorder of the adult, considered a sexual perversion by the World Health Organization, treated as a crime by the legal field. The effect of sexual abuse on the victim is very serious; It can generate emotional shocks, which are manifested by fear, insomnia, regression in learning, isolation, early eroticization of the child or adolescent, incompatible with their stage of development, depression and, in more serious cases, suicide. In addition, children can develop disorders, ranging from early pregnancy to involvement with drugs, the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.

A notable film that tackles the problem of pedophilia is Mystic River

.¹At the beginning of the story, three teenagers are approached by two men posing as police officers.

Dave, one of the boys, is taken by them and becomes the target of beatings and sexual abuse. “I don’t know who came out of that basement, but it certainly wasn’t Dave,” he says, 25 years later. Dave bears the mark of sexual abuse. He turns into a half-appalled man. His silent and sad way shows that something harmful remains within him. In addition to bringing physical and psychological suffering, pedophilia is a type of violence that has social implications for the victim. The film is an example of how difficult it is to protect a child from sexual harassment.

The patient’s perspective is addressed in the film The Woodcutter

², which lays bare the pedophile’s perverse nature and also his internal struggle to become a normal person. Though willing to heal of this disorder, at times, Walter (Kevin Bacon) is swept away by desire. After a long period of sexual abstinence, after 12 years in prison for a heinous crime, he is attracted to a little girl he sees on a walk through the mall. After this incident, he comments to the therapist: “I would like to be normal, to be able to see a little girl and not think about […]”. This phrase shows how hostage it is to desire. Such an awareness leaves him distressed and frightened, for he is at the mercy of sexual impulses.

Michel Foucault analyzes the theme of sexuality: “[…] sex, this instance that seems to dominate us, this secret that seems to us to underlie all that we are, this point that fascinates us by the power that manifests and the sense that conceals, to which we ask to reveal what we are and to liberate ourselves what defines us, sex is nothing more than an ideal point made necessary by the device of sexuality and its functioning. ³

That is why the family and the school should be aware if the child presents different attitudes from the usual ones. If she is the victim of a pedophile, undergoes a sudden change in behavior, avoids people of the same sex as the aggressor, who can be a family member, a neighbor, a stepfather. Has regression in development, for example, back to urinating in bed. Gets irritated easily, depressed, are afraid to go to the street or school. He suffers from sleep disorders and commonly has nightmares, becomes unappetizing. There is the case of children who appear bruised on the genitals, and some receive money from the aggressor.

Bibliography:

1. ABOUT boys and wolves. Director: Clint Eastwood. Produced by: Clint Eastwood, Judie Hoyt, Robert Lorenz. Performers: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden. Screenplay: Brian Helgeland. Music: Clint Eastwood. United States: Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Productions, Malpaso Productions, NPV Entertainment, 2003. 1 DVD (137 min.). Genre: Drama.
2. THE WOOLLER. Director: Nicole Kassell. Producer: Lee Daniels. Performers: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Eve, Mos Def, David Alan Grier, Benjamin Bratt, Kevin Rice. Screenplay: Nicole Kassell, Steven Fechter. Music: Nathan Larson. United States: 2004. 1 DVD (87 min.). Genre: Drama.
3. FOUCAULT, M. (1976/1984). History of sexuality, v. I – the will to know. Rio de Janeiro: Grail. pp. 144-14

João Roberto de Araújo is a thinker, writer of content for social-emotional education and founder of 50-50 SEL Solutions.