User talk:Ssbohio/Goldschmidt


 * Mizu-san, I think cultural difference accounts for part of it. However, as the interminable discussions at child sexual abuse and the former adult-child sex article essentially confirm, this Wiki has determined that there is only one acceptable view regarding what constitues child sexual abuse.  This mirrors the prevalent view, particularly in the U.S., that all sex between adults and minors is child sexual abuse.  The popular press & scholarly literature both overwhelmingly represent that view, with the popular press going so far as to use the term pedophilia to refer to all adult-minor sex, and the existence of operations like To Catch a Predator and organizations like Perverted Justice testifies to this being a wide-spread majority view.  An American can even be prosecuted in the U.S. for going to Africa or Asia to have sex with a 14-year-old girl;  Such is our determination that this is

Professional literature
The meaning of child sexual abuse is that stated by organizations like the U.S. National Institute of Justice, the British National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the American Psychological Association, the University of Oklahoma Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the National Institutes of Health. I trust that their definition of a term central to their work is an accurate one, particularly since it's been subject to peer review. In other words, my opinion is that verifiability and sourcing criteria have been met with regard to defining child sexual abuse.

Child sexual abuse is defined by multiple sources as occurring whenever an adult engages in sexual activity with a minor or exploits a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification.


 * Child has multiple definitions;
 * Traditionally, a child is one who has not yet reached the age of consent, but has passed the age of reason. That is how childhood is differentiated from infancy at common law.
 * Black's Law Dictionary's first definition of child is a person under the age of majority.


 * Child sexual abuse is a term with its own meaning, distinct from the meanings of its constituent words.
 * Sexual activity involving . Most often perpetrated by an adult, such activities include rape and molestation, pornography, and exposure of children to the sexual acts of others. -- The Sexual Exploitation of Children, Chart 1: Definitions of Terms Associated With the Sexual Exploitation (SEC) and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) (p. 4), University of Pennsylvania Center for Youth Policy Studies, writing for the U.S. National Institute of Justice in August 2001 and quoting the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information(1996).
 * Sexual abuse is when a child is pressurised, forced or tricked into taking part in any kind of sexual activity with an adult or young person. -- What is child abuse?  From the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
 * Child sexual abuse is a term with its own meaning, distinct from the meanings of its constituent words. Here are some definitions:
 * Q: Who are the Victims of Child Sexual Abuse? A: Children  … appear to be at approximately equal risk for sexual victimization. -- Understanding Child Sexual Abuse - Victims. American Psychological Association.  2001.
 * Child sexual abuse is the exploitation of a child for the sexual gratification of another person. -- Child Abuse And Neglect: An Overview, Barbara L. Bonner, Ph.D., Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. 2003.
 * Child sexual abuse is the deliberate exposure of to sexual activity. -- Child abuse - sexual - definition, Leisha M. Andersen, M.D., Pediatrician, in MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 22 January 2007.

These are the relevant definitions I've found in professional literature, along with their sources. --[[User:Ssbohio|SSBohio 16:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Lay sources

 * Under construction.

I'll find some lay sources as well. --SSBohio 16:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Issues raised by not describing Goldscmidt's conduct as child sexual abuse

 * The issues raised by not describing this as child sexual abuse are:
 * It is not a question of what state laws Goldschmidt may have violated, but rather one of what activity he engaged in, and what terminology describes that activity. "Sexual relationship" is simply innacurate terminology for what he did, because it diminishes what happened.  Child sexual abuse accurately describes the situation.
 * Calling what Goldschmidt did "a sexual relationship" is less specific than calling it child sexual abuse. It makes ambiguous the question of victimization.
 * NPOV calls on us to present the facts fairly and accurately. By definition, Goldschmidt sexually abused a 14-year-old girl.  Until the definition of child sexual abuse changes, that would be the most accurate description.
 * This adult, at the time roughly triple the age of the 14-year-old girl he had sex with, did not have a "relationship" with her (in the common sense of male-female relationships); He could not, since she couldn't consent.  By definition, what he did was child sexual abuse.
 * Leaving the language as it was denies that the girl was Goldschmidt's victim. It has overtones of the "she liked it" defense.  The victim is also (presumably) a living person, and we are admonished to "do no harm" per Jimbo.  She deserves an accurate description of what happened to her, and so does the reader.

We simply can't accurately depict what happened without describing it as child sexual abuse, because it meets the peer-reviewed definition of child sexual abuse. If we don't describe it that way, then we're making the conscious decision that even though this was child sexual abuse, we're just going to keep that information to ourselves. --SSBohio 16:15, 10 June 2008 (UTC)