Can Nonoffending Pedophiles Be Reached for the Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse by Addressing Nonoffending Individuals Who Are Attracted to Minors in the United States? New Strategies With The Global Prevention Project.

Tenbergen, Gilian; Martinez-Dettamanti, Meg; Christiansen, Candice

This paper introduces a new prevention strategy against child sexual abuse (both offline and online) in the United States. The Global Prevention Project is a supportive treatment program designed for nonoffending minor-attracted persons who reside in the community. Attraction to minors and the underlying scientific terms (pedophilia/hebephilia) are discussed and a framework is provided for how to implement such a program in the United States. Our treatment modality is described to provide transparency in our clinical work. We discuss challenges encountered in this domain with possible solutions and the legal ramifications of preventing child sexual abuse behaviors by targeting nonoffending individuals.