Police Scotland has denied that it referred to paedophiles as “minor-attracted people” in a major report after receiving criticism for the “very unsettling” language.
The document, which evaluated the force’s performance over the previous year, stated that Police Scotland had been supporting a European initiative to “fight the impacts of child sexual exploitation.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Sam Faulds, Head of Public Protection for Police Scotland, stated, ‘We totally condemn anyone who commits sexual offenses against children, whether they are individuals or paedophile networks, and we strive tirelessly to bring them to justice.
“Police Scotland does not use the phrase Minor-Attracted Person to describe this sort of offender, and any suggestion to the contrary is a gross misrepresentation of our position.
In a vital end-of-year report, Police Scotland has been criticized for characterizing paedophiles as “those drawn to children” (file image)
“The word cited in a June 2022 Police Scotland report was taken from proposal documents for the Horizon Project, a European collaboration to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation.
“At the first consortium meeting, held in Warsaw in September 2022, Police Scotland officers successfully advocated for the removal of the MAP word from the vocabulary used by more than twenty European partners.”
Our view was that the term was utterly unsuitable when defining a perpetrator of sexual offenses against children or someone who entertains indecent thoughts about them.
The National Child Abuse Investigation Unit of Police Scotland works collaboratively with partners to investigate all reports of child sexual exploitation, identify and capture offenders, and minimize their physical and digital opportunities for sexual offending.
The study stated, “The primary objective of this project is to establish an understanding and approach to prevent the victimization of children by engaging Minor-Attracted Persons (MAPs) and providing them with the appropriate assistance, therapy, and direction to prevent criminal activity.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservative Party told MailOnline that many would find the language used to neutralize children’s sexual orientation “very frightening and wrong.”
They stated, “Paedophilia-related offenses are among the most heinous and unforgivable crimes anybody can conduct, and it is imperative that Police Scotland’s advice reflect this.”
The majority of Scots will view any attempt to modify the terminology on paedophilia in official guidelines as highly troubling and improper.
UsForThem Scotland, a children’s advocacy group, stated that it was “horrified” that paedophiles were “being rebranded as MAPs.”
A spokesperson stated, “We continue to observe troubling kid protection issues both within and outside of school.”
This expression is not acceptable. We should never normalize child molesting.
Imagine if the police normalized rape and murder by renaming crimes in a similar fashion.
Indignation also erupted on Twitter, with one individual commenting, “Wake up, parents!” And everybody concerned with child protection! As I mentioned in a recent video, there is ‘MAP’-creep occurring! What a travesty it is that Police Scotland refers to pedophiles as MAPs – minor attracted persons! How dare you!”
Someone another remarked, “It is evident that our institutions are going too far with #bekind.”
Police Scotland emphasized, despite protests, that the term “minor-attracted people” is not used to describe paedophiles.
The force noted that the reference was taken from an EU group’s planned agenda.
Police Scotland does not use the term Minor-Attracted Person, according to a spokesperson. The reference in the Assessment of Policing Performance 2021/22 concerned our participation in the Horizon Project EU consortium to combat Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.
The word was used in the consortium’s commissioning paperwork and is more prevalent on the continent.
In September, Police Scotland representatives successfully fought for the consortium not to use the MAP name.