37
Child-like sex dolls are being stopped at Australia’s border. They could be an early child protection warning (theconversation.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/australia@aussie.zone
31 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Importing these products is illegal. Possession is also a Commonwealth offence carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment.

Available figures indicate the scale is significant, but difficult to track consistently. The Department of Home Affairs recorded 103 detections in 2020–21, 88 in 2021–22 and 29 in 2022–23.

An Australian Institute of Criminology review called for more research in the area, but identified plausible risks involved with owning them, including desensitisation, sexual objectification of children, escalation and use in grooming.

The appropriate response is therefore neither to dismiss these objects as harmless fantasy nor to treat possession as automatic proof of future offending. It’s to recognise them as potential risk indicators that may justify investigation.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [S] 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Some people who have sexual thoughts about children and are worried about it can get support if they don't want to carry out sexually damaging behaviours towards children, e.g. https://bravehearts.org.au/get-help/for-those-concerned-about-their-thoughts/

There also are people who do not want to get support and want to continue activities which exploit children.

I don't know if it is agreed by medical and psychological experts that paedophilia is an orientation or not. Some people who have these desires, etc, were abused themselves as children and so there is trauma-based acting out. Other people do not respond this way. The whole situation is complex but the safety of children must be the first consideration.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Some people who have these desires, etc, were abused themselves as children and so there is trauma-based acting out.

    That's right—it's probably not black and white again, but rather a spectrum of causes that can lead to this behavior. Especially when it comes to trauma-driven actions, there may be a chance to achieve something through treatment or therapy... provided that those affected are willing to come forward and cooperate.

    I don't know if it is agreed by medical and psychological experts that paedophilia is an orientation or not.

    I don't know either... but given that, not too long ago, homosexuality and other sexual orientations were still viewed either as illnesses requiring treatment and/or as conscious choices and therefore punishable by law, I'm cautious about making a moral judgment on sexual orientation itself for now.

    The whole situation is complex but the safety of children must be the first consideration.

    Absolutely!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    The difference (ringing bells) between this and other sexual orientations like homosexuality is that those are focused on other adults and people can make their own decisions (under normal circumstances where people are free to choose). Sexual desire towards children means that adults focus on children who do not have the maturity to make a decision about their involvement nor the means to protect themselves if they are assaulted or abused against their will in some way.

    I can imagine that people using child-like sex dolls would also indulge in child pornography and this in itself is child abuse and horrific for the children who have been exploited.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Sexual desire towards children means that adults focus on children who do not have the maturity to make a decision about their involvement nor the means to protect themselves if they are assaulted or abused against their will in some way.

    Absolutely, which is why living out this orientation cannot and must not be up for debate.

    But if I assume that our goal as a society is the protection of children, there are only two options for individuals with this orientation (since, as I said, sexual orientations do not appear to be either illnesses or conscious choices... otherwise, 2,000 years of violent persecution would surely have ensured that everything non-heteronormative would have been eradicated by now, to put it bluntly):

    The individual can either try to suppress the urge (which probably works more or less well in the case of monks… but as a layperson, I estimate the risk of relapse over a lifetime to be very high when living as part of everyday society) or suitable outlets or coping mechanisms must be found to avoid acting on this inclination.

    The latter seems to me to be the more sensible approach, since it (again, in my opinion as a layperson, though I believe this can also be psychologically substantiated) carries a lower risk of relapse. The latter is made significantly easier if the affected individual can seek professional help… which becomes less likely when the topic is treated as taboo and stigmatized.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 week ago

    As I point out elsewhere on this thread, there is help available if people want it and it can start anonymously, e.g. see https://bravehearts.org.au/

    Even calling LIfeline, people can get information on what services are available. Professional help IS AVAILABLE. The more adults realise this the more they can find their own healing and the more children will be spared.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    I don't know if it is agreed by medical and psychological experts that paedophilia is an orientation or not. Some people who have these desires, etc, were abused themselves as children and so there is trauma-based acting out. Other people do not respond this way. The whole situation is complex but the safety of children must be the first consideration.

    The general work for this is the DSM5, which lays out pedophilic disorder on page 697-701, where it is classified as a paraphilia and a disorder, classified alongside other conditions that involve some sort of bypassing of normal consent processes (ie paraphilias involving objects or extreme violence, etc)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •