Is pedophilia open to interpretation?
Apparently so. Note: none of these definitions are mine in that I did not invent them. They do however show that there are various interpretations of the meaning of pedophilia.
Some folks believe that sex with a minor is considered pedophilia as has been evidenced on Getbig and they are not wrong because in popular usage, the word pedophilia is often applied to any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse, including any sexual interest in
minors below the local age of consent, regardless of their level of physical or mental development.
What defines a minor in legal terms with regards to sexual consent varies from place to place depending on local laws.
However, Britannica defines pedophilia as a psychosexual disorder, generally affecting adults, characterized by sexual interest in
prepubescent children or attempts to engage in sexual acts with
prepubescent children.
Puberty is the time in life when a person becomes sexually mature, typically occurs between ages 8 and 13 for girls and ages 9 and 14 for boys.
To further complicate things, the While pedophilia itself does not give rise to criminal liability, acting on it does. Many jurisdictions make it a felony to engage in sexual contact with minors, which would be an example of acting on pedophilia. For example, California Penal Code § 288 states that “any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under the age of 14 years...
And below is a definition of pedophilia that I previously posted which caused a big stir on Getbig because it defines it as a mental disorder and that did not sit well some folk’s personal feelings about pedophilia.
The American Psychological Association (APA) Dictionary of Psychology defines pedophilia as “a paraphilia in which sexual acts or fantasies involving pre-pubertal children are the persistently preferred or exclusive method of achieving sexual excitement.” A 2013 APA News Release stated that the APA maintains that pedophilia is a mental disorder.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/pedophilia