Pedophilia (alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescentchildren.[1][2] Although girls typically begin the process of puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12,[3] criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13.[4] A person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilia.[4][5]
Pedophilia is termed pedophilic disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), and the manual defines it as a paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or interpersonaldifficulty.[4] The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) defines it as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children."[6]
In popular usage, the word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse.[1][2][7] This use conflates the sexual attraction to prepubescent children with the act of child sexual abuse and fails to distinguish between attraction to prepubescent and pubescent or post-pubescent minors.[8][9] Researchers recommend that these imprecise uses be avoided, because although some people who commit child sexual abuse are pedophiles,[7][10] child sexual abuse offenders are not pedophiles unless they have a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children,[8][11][12] and some pedophiles do not molest children.[13]
Pedophilia was first formally recognized and named in the late 19th century. A significant amount of research in the area has taken place since the 1980s. Although mostly documented in men, there are also women who exhibit the disorder,[14][15] and researchers assume available estimates underrepresent the true number of female pedophiles.[16] No cure for pedophilia has been developed, but there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of a person committing child sexual abuse.[7] The exact causes of pedophilia have not been conclusively established.[17] Some studies of pedophilia in child sex offenders have correlated it with various neurological abnormalities and psychological pathologies.[18] In the United States, following Kansas v. Hendricks in 1997, sex offenders who are diagnosed with certain mental disorders, particularly pedophilia, can be subject to indefinite involuntary commitment.[19]