After facing sharp criticism for referring to pedophiles as “minor-attracted people”—a label used to normalize sex abuse against children—in a high-level report, Scottish police have stated that they did so at the direction of the European Union, an institution which as of late has shown itself to be deeply corrupt.
Scottish Police Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, in his year-end report which provides an overall assessment of policing performance for the annum, said that the force had been working to support a European project whose stated primary objective is to “avoid the victimization of children by engaging Minor-Attracted People (MAPs) and provide them with the necessary support, treatment and guidance to help prevent criminal activities,” The Daily Telegraph reports.
Following intense publish backlash, with many suggesting the police were attempting to normalize sex crimes against children, a police spokesman claimed that the phrase “minor-attracted people” was not commonly used to describe pedophiles, and explained that the annual report’s reference to MAPs had to do with the police force’s involvement with the European Union’s Horizon Europe Project—Prevention of Child Sexual Exploitation.
Speaking about the language used in the report, a spokesperson for the Scottish Conservative party said: “Most Scots will find any attempt to soften the language around pedophilia in official guidance to be deeply disturbing and wrong. Offenses related to pedophilia are among the most appalling and unforgivable crimes anyone can commit and it’s essential that Police Scotland guidance reflect this.”
Kenny McAskill, Alba Party MP for East Lothian and former Scottish National Party (SNP) Justice Secretary, also chimed in on the issue, telling the Scottish Daily Express that “spouting these euphemisms simply masks the reality and their danger.”
McAskill added that commissioning documents with these “euphemisms should be avoided as they mask the reality and hide the horror.” “The term in whatever context is baloney,” he said.
The children’s campaign group UsForThem Scotland, which says it speaks “for children of the United Kingdom regardless of birthplace or socio-educational circumstances,” also slammed the state for attempting to rebrand pedophiles as MAPs in its official documents, saying the idea was horrifying.
A spokesman for the group said: “We are seeing ongoing, concerning issues relating to child protection both inside and outside school. This is not an acceptable phrase. We should never normalize pedophilia. Imagine if the police normalize rape or murder by rebranding them similarly.”
Amid the storm of negative reactions, however, the Scottish police insisted that the force does not employ the term “minor-attracted people” to describe pedophiles, and added that its use in the annual report was not an attempt to normalize pedophilia.
In a statement addressing the backlash, a spokesman for the force said: “Scotland does not use the term Minor-Attracted Person. The reference in the Assessment of Policing Performance 2021/22 was in relation to our engagement with the Horizon Project EU consortium to tackle Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.”
“The term was used in the commissioning documents for the consortium and it is more commonly used on the continent. Police Scotland representatives successfully lobbied in September for the MAP term not to be used by the consortium,” he concluded.
