Dutch Court Says Pedophilia Advocacy Group Martijn Can Continue

When Marthijn Uittenbogaard’s lawyer contacted him with the news that his pro-pedophilia group could continue to exist, he took to Twitter: “Fortunately, there are still wise judges,” he wrote. Uittenbogaard was the last leader of Martijn, a foundation established in 1982 to promote the legalization of consensual sex between adults and children in The Netherlands. (The similarity of the names Marthijn and Martijn is a coincidence.)

The group has been fighting a legal battle with the country’s Public Prosecution Service which has been seeking its dismantling since 2010. Last year a court ruled that Martijn be banned on charges that it glorified sexual relations between adults and children. But the appeals court in the northern town of Leeuwarden has now overturned that decision, claiming that although the work of the organization is contradictory to public order, there is no evidence leading to “a threat of disrupting society.”

Uittenbogaard, 40, sees this as a victory for freedom of expression. He thinks society can be very overprotective. “A child can see a lot of violence on television, on every cartoon there’s violence, on movies people get killed,” he explains, “But when Janet Jackson’s breast is shown at the Super Bowl people say: ‘Oh children are watching this.’ Nakedness and everything concerning sexuality is a taboo and violence is the norm. And I think that should be the other way around.” He further believes “almost everyone has pedophile feelings in them. Only the percentage is different, some have more than others.”

According to Uittenborgaard, pedophilia is not only about sex. He is, in fact, against penetration when it comes to small children, but he thinks that those above 12 years old are wise enough to decide whether they want to have intercourse with an adult. But child psychologist Sanderijn van der Doef disagrees. She admits children are aware of their sexuality at an early age, but “they can’t understand the consequences of their decisions, including those related to their sexuality.”

source - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/05/dutch-court-says-pedophilia-advocacy-group-martijn-can-continue.html