Minor-attraction is non-normative, but MAPs are people just like everyone else. The only difference is their age of attraction. Just like orientation based on gender, and just like people who are attracted to adults, MAPs do not choose to be attracted to children, and minor-attraction cannot be changed.
MAPs experience high rates of impaired psychosocial functioning, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, isolation, and suicidality. MAPs may feel like outsiders in their communities, be frightened of themselves and of causing harm, and feel like there is no one they can confide in, even when they would benefit from treatment. Many take their own lives, most commonly in their teens.
MAP advocacy is one of the best ways to reduce rates of childhood sexual abuse- a MAP is most at risk of offending when they are between 12 and 14, feeling depressed, isolated, and self-loathing, and when they have internalized the erroneous social narrative that MAPs are doomed to offend.
By educating ourselves and others, rectifying the climate of misinformation and harmful stigma, providing peer and professional support, and cultivating safe, social, accessible spaces for MAPs which challenge detrimental narratives and feelings of isolation, we can help reduce child sexual abuse and help a demographic of real, brave, complex individuals who deserve our compassion and support.