Klaus Beier, M.D., leads the prevention network at Charite's Sexual Medicine Institiute in Berlin, Germany. He states that "pedophilia is not curable, but it can be treated...a pedophile can learn to control his urges."

Launched in 2005, this publicly-funded (think Volkswagen) project by Berlin's top university hospital calls on pedophiles to undertake a treatment that helps them control their urges. More than 7,000 people have sought information on the program which is offered in 11 centers across Germany. Candidates are those who have already commited abuses but have managed to escape justice. Other programs deal with convicted pedophiles who have also been issued specific orders to seek medical care.

Dr. Beier calls his project "Prevention Project Dunkelfeld" (PPD). The term "dunkelfeld" is German for "dark field." Their slogan is "You are not guilty because of your sexual desire, but you're responsible for your sexual behavior. There is help! Don't become an offender!" PPD is grounded on the principle that sexual attraction to children is a medical problem and "not a crime.'

Over 1 or 2 years, during 2-hour sessions every week, the "patient" is taught to develop strategies to stop himself from acting on his tendencies or from consuming child pornography. The program also helps the "patient" to acquire a level of empathy towards potential victims which could go towards dissuading him from hurting them. Scientists from around the world, including countries in North America as well as Switzerland and India, have been watching this project with interest.

As previously mentioned, PPD started in 2005 with support from the Volkswagen Foundation. The German Federal Ministry for Justice has supported it since 2008. In 2014, PPD was expanded to treat juveniles with sexual interest in children.

The Diagnostice and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders-5 differentialtes between pedophilia and pedophilic disorder (when someone acts on the sexual urges or the urges cause significant distress and interpersonal difficulties, the International Classification of Diseases 10 sees it as a sexual preference disorder). There are significant voices who believe that it ought not to be in the DSM at all but rather viewed as an unchanging part of someone's makeup.

The treatments have ranged from some which use a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous to chemical therapies that kill sexual desire altogether. Most of these approaches come into play only after an offender has been caught. As of September 2016, 2403 applications were received, 991 assessments were done, and 500 persons were treated in Berlin. 50% had already committed child sexual abuse and 75% admitted to child pornography. After coordinating the nationwide network in 11 locations, PPD received (from 2011 to September 2016) 7,075 applications, assessed 2,298 persons and offered treatment to 1,264 people.

In November 2016, the German Parliament voted for a legislation to finance specialized treatment services for self-referred pedophilically inclined individuals through the health insurance program. They can use this service anonymously. The law has been inforce since January 1, 2017 and is a "worldwide breakthrough." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-paedophilia-clinic-university-hospital-treatment-berlin-a7384356.html http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2017/mar/05/a-preventive-approach-to-sex-abuse-of-children-1577748.html

India is interested in what Germany is doing. The KEM (King Edward Memorial) Research Center is in the process of conducting a feasibility study to see if it is possible to treat local pedophiles.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Feasibility-study-to-gauge-chances-to-treat-pedophiles/articleshow/51339388.cms

Switching over to the US, Elizabeth Letourneau, Ph.D., is involved with 3 "family-focused" research projects. Letourneau is Director of he Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her "Help Wanted" Study, quantitative interviews were conducted with young adults attracted to prepubescent children but who have not commited abuse. Many of these young adults said they recognized their attraction in adolescence but did not know what to do.

In May of 2017, a study by Letourneau appeared in the journal, "Child Maltreatment," titled "Preventing the Onset of Child Sexual Abuse by Targeting Young Adolescents with Universal Prevention Programming." Her conclusion reads as follows:

"Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a serious health problem of national and global concern. Universal school-based prevention approacahes that aim to deter older children and adolescents from engaging younger children in sexual behaviors have the promise to prevent a sizable portion of CSA in a cost-effective manner. Existing school-based approaches most often focus on teaching potential victims to protect themselves from abuse, and while these programs are associated with some positive outcomes, it has not been established that they reduce the likelihood of victimization. More recently, promising programs have addressed peer-on-peer sexual harassment and violence, but these do not address sexual behavior against younger children. There is a need for school-based prevention programs that target the onset of CSA. The epidemiology of CSA indicates that young adolescent sexual abuse of younger children is relatively common and transient and frequently motivated by preventable factors. We should make the necessary investment to design, rigorously evaluate, and disseminate programs that effectively prevent older children from sexually abusing younger children."

If the above is not a blatant invitation to to accept, promote, and condone deviant behavior, I don't know what is. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5523139/

While researching the Johns Hopkins studies, I came across an organization called the "Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers" (ATSA) with headquarters in Beaverton, GA. The website claims they are an international, interdisciplinary, non-profit organization "dedicated to making society safer by preventing sexual abuse." ATSA encourages sound research, effective practice, informed policy, and comprehensive prevention strategies all designed to create safer communities. It all just sounds too good to be true...because it is. It appears to me that this is merely an organization with a facade that is doing absolutely nothing to discourage sexual abuse and more likely than not, encourages it.

ATSA consists of 3,000 members from 20 countries with 25 chapters in the US and 1 in the Netherlands. It professes its practice standards and guidelines on the website, some of which you cannot access unless you are a member. A few of the many topics include: Adult Practice Guidelines; Adolescent Practice Guidelines; Report on Children with Sexual Behavior Problems; Sexual Offense Specific Treatment; Civil Commitment of Sexual Offenders; aand Pharmacological Interventions with Adult Male Sexual Offenders. Members include researchers, treatment providers, corrections officials, attorneys, law enforcement officers, and students. ATSA claims it has the world's largest annual conference and leading educational venue for individuals working on issues related to the research tretament and management of sexual abuse. Their official journal is "Sexual Abuse" published 8 times a year.

ATSA dates back to the early 1980's when a group of Oregon treatment providers, researchers, and other practictioners began meeting each month to discuss assessment methods and treatment options for sexually aggressive adults in Oregon State Hospital and other institutions. They called themselves "The Association for the Behavioral Treatment of Sexual Aggressives" (ABTSA). In 1985 they became incorporated, a Board of Directors and standing committees were created, and changed their name to ATSA. Their first conference was held in 1987 in Newport, OR.

Their 35th conference in 2016 was held in Orlando, FL. None other than Johns Hopkins Elizabeth Letourneau and cohorts were guest speakers. The conference's focus was "Different Roles, Same Goals: Preventing Sexual Abuse." Letourneau presented the argument that child sexual abuse is a preventable public health problem and maintained that focusing on prevention of youth-perpetrated sexual harm is a worthwhile endeavor. Further discussion focused on addressing needs of adolescents sexually attracted to children where Letourneau once again claimed that subjects reported attempting to seek help but were unable to find any. She also reported that the subjects' main struggle was not refrraining from acting on their attraction but rather figuring out how to cope with such an attraction and how to live a happy and healthy life. The final topic pertained to the impact of sex crime policies on youth and their families. Key findings by the presenter were that youth who had to register as sex offenders are 4 times more likely to have attempted suicide in the past 30 days and 3 times more likely to be approached by an adult for sex than youth who do not have to register. Their final point was that caregivers of youth who are required to register, experience an increased average number of negative consequences than those who are not required to register. http://www.atsa.com/ https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/moore-center-for-the-prevention-of-child-sexual-abuse/moore-prevention-news/moore-center-research-team-presents-at-atsa Here is a link to the PPD actual study https://its-interesting.com/category/project-dunkelfeld/

The normalization of pedophilia has become commonplace as tragedy continues to unfold and expand.