While the American Psychiatric Association toys with the idea of calling pedophilia by a new name — minor attracted persons — and calling pedophilia a disorder only if it makes the pedophile uncomfortable or distressed, Greece has gone even farther down that path. The Greek government has added pedophilia to their list of state-recognized “disabilities.” The government decision means that pedophiles in Greece will be eligible for financial assistance in handling their “disability.”
Greece is experiencing a predictable backlash. According to World Net Daily, the National Confederation of Disabled People, (NCDP) a major disability group in Greece, claims that the new decision will enable pedophiles to get more money than “people who have received organ transplants,” and they called the action “incomprehensible.”
At a time when Greece is teetering on the brink of financial collapse, it truly is incomprehensible that they would add pedophiles, along with exhibitionists, kleptomaniacs, pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists to the list of official “disabilities,” thus making the government responsible for providing financial resources for those who claim those conditions.
Further, the action flies in the face of social science research that reports pedophilia as a condition that is extremely difficult to reverse. One study found that pedophiles who are imprisoned are 42 percent more likely than other offenders to “re-offend” after they are released, with the incidence of re-offence highest for the first six years, but the risk remains for 10-31 years later with 23 percent re-offending during that time. Greece is making a long-term commitment to entitlements for people who put children at risk.