Paedophilia is an oddly exalted term for so vile a deed. Not that the sound of a word necessarily says anything crucial about its meaning. But I remember it being a bit of a surprise when I discovered at school that it did not refer to a variety of butterfly, or even to a bicycle enthusiast (a lover of pedals) both of which had flashed before my free-associating eyes as possible definitions. It was in the lunch queue. A trendy girl spat out the word at the climax of her tirade against the biology teacher, who was both "grotesque and disgusting" as well as being a "paedophile." As a biology teacher he could still conceivably have been a butterfly expert, but the venom with which she said it made it unlikely.
When, at the beginning of this uniquely psycho-sensitive century, psychoanalysts needed a scientific tag for the sexual abuse of children, they turned, as was traditional, to the Graeco-Roman languages for inspiration. Science and technology continues (for some mysterious reason) to use Latin and Greek even for its most up-to-date inventions such as the fax or the modem. But "paedophilia," to the ancient Greeks, had quite different connotations to the sinister ones we now recognise. As is well known, relationships between older men and young boys were actively encouraged in Greek society as a way of imparting virility to the younger generation, and ensuring that young boys had protectors and sponsors as their careers developed. A Frenchman called Pascal Quignard even claims that the Latin word "inspirare" (to inspire) comes from the Greek for "sodomy."
This etymological probing is not designed as a prelude to a shocking endorsement of paedophilia. It serves merely to reinforce the dizzying sense of how much times change. And possibly to accentuate the strange proximity of good to evil. ( In any case, the Greeks hardly promoted the activity among small or pre-pubescent children.)
For a child today, given the shame it provokes (quite apart from any pain associated with the act itself), paedopohilia must be a horrendous experience. And the child's subsequent ability to trust and to form relationships is likely to be badly damaged.
But what I have come to question is the relentless obsession with paedophilia in the media and the mindless vilification of suspects. The prurient interest in such cases speaks of an astonishingly warped attitude to sex in general. And the effect of this obsession seems to be quite malignant. Paedophiles have become what witches or communists were to a former age. They can be found under every (metaphorical) bed.
I had been vaguely aware of the voracious appetite for such stories in the media for some time. But it did not strike me as particularly odd. Then I heard two stories which made me think that the hysteria associated with it is really quite alarming.
I read in the newspaper how a former history teacher of mine was being taken to court for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an under-age pupil. I was shocked because although I wouldn't advocate the "Louise Woodward support group" attitude to justice ("I know she's innocent because she used to buy sweets at my shop"), I had known this teacher well at one time, and could well imagine that his style of teaching might inspire unusual intimacies-but not improper ones-because of the power of the interaction he had with his pupils. Eventually, he was cleared, but the whole case had been inspired by a mother who was upset by his affair with her daughter once she had left the school (when she was 17) and sought to prove that he had damaged her psyche by being "too close" earlier on.
At about the same time, I heard of the experience of a Spaniard who had recently come to live in England after marrying an English woman. The action took place on a busy Saturday morning on a Surrey high street. The man was in his 70s. He was of the old-fashioned Spanish school, sporting a moustache and a Burberry tweed. His wife had to nip into a shop to pick up something. He waited outside. As he waited, a lot of children skipped around on the pavement. A few came up quite close and he smiled at them. As he did so, he pinched one of them affectionately on the cheek-a gesture that is common in many Latin countries.
This was watched by an adult nearby who suspected the worst, and immediately called the police. The man was arrested, his wife was nowhere to be seen; he was thrown into jail where he remained overnight. The following morning, the case was cleared up. But the assumption of guilt has left the man so traumatised that he has left the country, and no longer has any desire to return.
Paedophilia is no longer taboo-and that is a good thing. But it has gone from being a taboo, an unmentionable subject, to being a relentless source of prurient interest. Perhaps that is the way of all taboos. But is it possible that the terrified reaction only increases the sense of trauma of those who suffer such experiences?
You cannot just blame the media. Like the police, it reflects wider obsessions. But the snap decisions-or rather the snap opinions-about the guilt of an adult involved with a child are having iniquitous effects on the way non-guilty people have to live their lives.
