Adults who feel sexual attraction, rape, exploit and even kill children and underage persons are often referred to as pedophiles or pedophiles without distinction. However, both terms come from different Greek concepts and should not be used as synonyms.
The word 'pedophilia' comes from Greek páis, a noun that was applied exclusively to males of 13 and 19 years, that is, between nubility - the beginning of the reproductive age - and adolescence. To this term is added philia, which would be translated as friendship, love or spiritual affection. In Ancient Greece, it was a common practice for pubescents to have sex with their teachers to promote ties between them and this is what was called pedophilia. Pedophiles, or pedophiles according to some Hellenists, are those who like young people psychically; those who are attracted to people of much younger age. Some linguists affirm that those people who feel sexual attraction towards boys and girls could be described as 'paidionophiles', which would be those who love children emotionally.
On the contrary, the word pederast a comes from eraõ (love with passion) and paídes (plural of páis) and refers to men who sexually desire male adolescents. The main difference that has been highlighted in recent years is that a pedophile feels an attraction for young people but does not have to lead to a concrete action or consummation of those desires. On the other hand, a pedophile feels the same attraction as the pedophile but in this case it does lead to sexual abuse.
While pedophilia is defined as a paraphilia, a type of sexual disorder characterized by recurrent fantasies, pedophilia is, in addition to the paraphilia itself, a criminal practice derived from it that causes serious repercussions on the psychological, social and sexual development of the victim. As a general rule, all pedophiles are pedophiles but not all pederast have to be pedophiles.
