Latifa Bennari: To prevent child abuse, listen to paedophiles

"Pédophilie: prévenir pour protéger" (Paedophilia: prevent to protect) is the title of the book which has ignited many debates on the methods taken by the author Latifa Bennari, to handle the subject which has long been a taboo. Latifa Bennari, president and founder of "L'ange Bleu" (the Blue Angel), a France-based association to fight child abuse, did not only report real stories revealed by children subjected to maltreatment, but also brought to light a new method to prevent the phenomenon. Based on her long experience in the field, she suggested "let us listen to paedophiles!" The author suggests that the best way to prevent this sexual crime is to exploit the paedophile's feeling of shame and culpability to prevent them from passing into action. However, Bennari's courageous idea was not applauded by all. Some showed disgust, as it is not easy to accept that by listening to paedophiles, children could be protected from the abuse. [...]

Victim of the same abuse, Bennari, instead of isolating herself and damning society for the rest of her life, made of that sad and traumatizing experience a source of energy. [...] Nevertheless, she always stresses the difference between paedophiles and sex offenders. "People often tend to confuse pedophiles with sex offenders. It is necessary to start by removing this confusion and accept the existence of abstinent paedophiles who have never cross over into action, and collectively work for the protection of children," Bennari explains. [...] She summarised her approach by saying "the more paedophiles are treated, the less sex offences there will be."

source: 'Latifa Bennari: To prevent child abuse, listen to paedophiles'; www.moroccotimes.com/Paper/article.asp?idr=11&id=10872; Marocco Times; 10 November 2005