Pune: After 10 months of its launch, www.troubled-desire.com, a website designed for people with paedophilic tendencies, but who have not offended any children, has seen 25 Indians seeking help from medical professionals at the city-based King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital & Research Centre.
Dr Klaus Beier, who started the programme for primary prevention of sexual violence (PPPSV) initiative, in Germany said that spreading awareness should help people with pedophilic tendencies to seek assistance without offending the children. From October 2017 to August 2018, there were 1,750 people who entered the assessment review of the website and 660 have completed the tests.
Globally, the mean age of the participants were 32.5 years; out of which 93.3 per cent were males and 5.2 per cent were females. 90 per cent of the users confirmed a sexual preference for pre-pubescent body age (paedophilia) and/ or a sexual preference for the early pubescent body age (hebephilia), very often in mixed (non-exclusive) type.
Concerning Indian users, around 10.8 pc of the sessions were started from India which accounts to about 25 users who completed the session. Out of these, 23 were males and 2 females. Their mean age was 31.5 years.
Speaking during a press interaction on Tuesday, Dr Beier said paedophilic inclinations come during puberty and it doesn’t go away.
“They are like same-sex inclinations. You cannot go back from having such preferences to being straight or normal. Hence, seeking treatment becomes more important as many people do not want to offend a child and are scared of social implications. Hence, they should seek medical help which is confidential and will help them in controlling their desires,” said Dr Beier.
He said the digital tool makes it possible to differentiate between potential and real offenders, allowing law-abiding paedophiles to receive personal treatment and offering real offenders at least something in their self-motivated search for desisting themselves from child sexual abuse and/ or use of child sexual abuse images.
“For on-site treatment, law-abiding people with paedophilia are directed to KEM Hospital & Research Centre, Pune, and to individual therapists in Mumbai. After a detailed clinical interview and assessments that are culturally adapted to the Indian context, people with paedophilia and hebephilia can receive treatment which focuses on improvement of sexual impulse control and leading a socially healthy life,” said Dr Beier.
He said the goal is to develop approaches for primary prevention of sexual violence in India by means of medical science and technology – focusing on the causes of child sexual abuse. The programme aims to prevent, by treatment, sexual violence against women and children in India, and is a collaborative initiative of KEM Hospital & Research Centre, Pune, the Institute of Sexology, Charité (University Clinic, Berlin), Bayer India, and an advisory council of experts from India.
