Virtuous Paedophiles is an online community of people who admit to being sexually attracted to minors – not through their own choice, but they have found it simply to be a part of themselves. Though each of them may have taken very different paths of self-discovery, what unifies them is the fact that they never have nor ever will deviate into any form of sexual interaction with a minor.
On first approaching this small online community of paedophiles, I was astounded by their warm embrace to my project. Announcing myself as a documentary photographer in a forum whose very existence relies upon the sanctuary provided in anonymity, I anticipated being faced with concern and suspicion, if not a bleak wall of silence. However what they saw in my proposed project was a medium with which they had the potential to express themselves and to be heard. Having an empathetic ‘muggle’ (an expression which the community has affectionately commandeered to describe non-paedophiles) champion their cause meant that they could speak their minds without having to face the usual suspicion and rejection from a society that believes that they are rapists and liars by default. And as such, they shared everything with me.
The greatest issue faced by these men and women is not necessarily their attraction to minors itself- this is something that many learn to handle themselves insofar as either remaining completely celibate in cases where they are exclusively attracted to minors, or having legal relationships in cases where they have non-exclusive attractions to both adults and minors. Far more grappling a problem for them is the fact that the vast majority have nowhere to turn outside the relatively impersonal space provided by online forums. The stigma created by the label of ‘paedophilia’ means today that thousands of people around the world must keep their attraction suppressed, creating overwhelming loneliness and depression. Those who have sought professional help to overcome their attraction face either rejection or the police: “I could have received therapy if my counsellor had not abandoned me without a referral.” Others end up finding comfort within the disillusioned philosophy of pro-contact forums: online chat groups that openly advocate and encourage sexual activity with minors: “I never believed in their rhetoric strongly enough to act upon it in real life, but I did feel I owed them. They saved my life, after all.”
My photographs raise numerous issues: from their discovery of, and coming to terms with their attraction; to the varying ways in which their attractions manifest themselves; the familial, professional and religious impacts of paedophilia; and their observations on how the public attitude towards paedophilia needs to change. The series challenges society’s perception of what it means to have a sexual attraction to a minor and give these men and women the chance to be understood, while letting others who are still in hiding know that they are not alone.
With a bachelor’s degree in Classical Civilisation and German from The University of Nottingham, Alex has turned his interest in photography into a medium with which he communicates his curiosity for those that live on society’s fringes.
