ආ pedophile පොන්නයා
Pedophilia
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This article is about the sexual preference toward prepubescent children. It is not to be confused with
hebephilia or
ephebophilia.
Pedophilia (
alternatively spelt
paedophilia) is a
psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive
sexual attraction to
prepubescent children.
[1][2] Although girls typically begin the process of
puberty at age 10 or 11, and boys at age 11 or 12,
[3] criteria for pedophilia extend the cut-off point for prepubescence to age 13.
[4] A person must be at least 16 years old, and at least five years older than the prepubescent child, for the attraction to be diagnosed as pedophilia.
[4][5]
Pedophilia is termed
pedophilic disorder in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (
DSM-5), and the manual defines it as a
paraphilia involving intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and
fantasies about prepubescent children that have either been acted upon or which cause the person with the attraction distress or
interpersonal difficulty.
[4] The
International Classification of Diseases (
ICD-11) defines it as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviours—involving pre-pubertal children."
[6]