Scottish police use Minor Attracted Person instead of 'paedophile' in report

[pattihews]

Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has used the acronym MAP (minor attracted Person) in an annual assessment of the force's work with a European project.

We've all wondered what the + is in LGB and TQIA+ haven't we? Well perhaps now we know. As the Telegraph says:

The term MAP is contentious because child abusers are trying to escape the stigma attached to paedophilia and maintain they should be regarded as a niche group alongside the LGBT community.

As a member of the LGB community I object. Archived link from the Telegraph:
archive.today/e9DCa

Scotland is taking increasingly unenlightened steps. I used to want to live there but not now.

That is awful.

I remember reading comments from people who saw this coming a mile away. It's horrific.

Not sure where you're getting your information from but I disagree. I think England, at least, is regarded as a beacon of hope by GC women around the world. Wales and Scotland are likely to be lost, but that's because they're small nations who have outsourced all their equalities issues to lobby groups — though I think that will start to change before too long.

Rishi Sunak has spoken very clearly about strengthening women's rights and I think that with him we have a better chance of abolishing the GRA and ensuring that the Equality Act 2010 makes it absolutely clear that male and female, man and woman, are sex-based terms and that sex is immutable. Caroline Nokes has been neutralised with the appointment of Akua Reindorf. And I think Nicola Sturgeon has shot herself in both feet by announcing just before Christmas that any sex offender can change name and gender in the space of three months and then get access to women trapped in prisons. I'm sure that's been a talking point around a million Christmas dining tables and more Christmas gatherings and parties.

A paedophile is attracted to pre-pubescent children. The new term applies to those past puberty but under 16.

I can see the reasoning.

There are already words for this.
Paedophilia
Hebephilia
Ephebophilia

MAP is used by those who want to normalise child abuse crimes as just another sexuality.

@pattihews I really hope you are right, and if Rishi has said all of that (I was aware he said he had concerns around women and children safety, but hasn't so far said what actions the Tory party are going to take) - that's brilliant!

However, it's not lost on me that we already have men in women's prisons, and this has been under Tory rule. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this can be reversed too.

Are you saying the Chief Constable is trying to normalise these? It would appear so from your post.

All are reprehensible but where the law is concerned terms have to be exact.

"Paedo" is thrown around too easily by those who don't know what it means.

I’m saying they perhaps shouldn’t be using terms commonly adopted by paedophiles to normalise their urges.

The law has to be exact. There are, as I say, already exact terms, of which MAP is not one.

MAP is used by those who want to normalise child abuse crimes as just another sexuality.

Thats not why the police are using it. It’s simply a shorthand for anyone who is sexually attracted to under 16 Yr olds. This includes pedophiles as well. It would be really silly to have subsets of the single crime of child rape using old terminology.

using terms commonly adopted by paedophiles to normalise their urges.

I don’t see why this other usage matters? Surely it’s better to appropriate it and use it in the context of this is a crime than to ignore and allow people to think MAP is ok?

"Police Scotland emphasised it opposed describing paedophiles as MAPs and insisted the term had only been included in the report as it was used by the project’s commissioning documents." Telegraph.

So the Scottish Police hate the term and say it's wrong.

Without in any way supporting normalisation, but given that large parts of the UK population don't know the difference between a paedophile and a paediatrician, perhaps using simpler and specific language might be a good idea?

"Police Scotland emphasised it opposed describing paedophiles as MAPs and insisted the term had only been included in the report as it was used by the project’s commissioning documents." Telegraph.
So the Scottish Police hate the term and say it's wrong.

I completely agree I think (one of) the key points is a great many heterosexual men are sexually attracted to post pubescent but underage girls on occasion. Decent men manage this inappropriate attraction without making it the problem of the teenage girl. It isn't a different sexuality, it's regular heterosexuality applied with social filters of whether it's ok to do something about the fact you're attracted to them.

I agree. And Police Scotland are just doing the “apologise” move to defuse the controversy and complaints.

It’s not a new term at all. It’s been rife and widely used on Twitter for years by these sickos who are trying to normalise it in this way.

All I can say on this thread is:

”We see you”

Pedophilia is a paraphilia, not a sexuality.

To be fair, Police Scotland are not planning to use this (ridiculous and offensive) change in definition more widely

“Despite complaints, a Police Scotland stressed that the force does not use the term 'minor-attracted people' in reference to paedophiles.

The force outlined that the reference has been quoted from the proposed agenda of an EU group.

A spokesman said: 'Police Scotland does not use the term Minor-Attracted Person. The reference in the Assessment of Policing Performance 2021/22 was in relation to our engagement with the Horizon Project EU consortium to tackle Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. Police Scotland representatives successfully lobbied in September for the MAP term not to be used by the consortium.'

Well that triggered quite the discussion in my household

glad to see that police scotland don’t agree with the phrase

DriftwoodOnTheShore · Today 11:52
A paedophile is attracted to pre-pubescent children. The new term applies to those past puberty but under 16.

I can see the reasoning

Even if there is a difference between being attracted to infants, very young children, young children approaching puberty, and those who have gone through puberty but are under sixteen - why does that warrant the American euphemism, “Minor Attracted Person”.

The obvious vulnerability of a person under sixteen ( and of course older if there is a big age difference) makes any such attraction something abusive in nature. They should be described with the stigma attached.

Appart from other considerations puberty is occurring at younger and younger ages.

^The average age for girls to start puberty is 11, while for boys the average age is 12. But it's perfectly normal for puberty to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls and 9 and 14 in boys.
www.nhs.uk › conditions › e...
Early or delayed puberty - NHS^

So an eight ear old could be the object for a middle aged man’s lust but technically they would not be a paedophile but a MAP.

As a society are we not trying to get away from this?

‘Police Scotland representatives successfully lobbied in September for the MAP term not to be used by the consortium’

I have just read that, and feel very glad the Scottish Police have stood up to the EU on this. Well done to them.

So an eight ear old could be the object for a middle aged man’s lust but technically they would not be a paedophile but a MAP.

Technically they would be both a paedophile and a MAP…

Agree

Of course it’s going to be dressed up as something rational and beneficial.

The fact that people self-identify as this term is a massive red flag against its usage.