UK Edition Police Scotland has used the term “minor-attracted people” (MAP) to describe paedophiles in a major report, despite warnings it normalises child abuse.
Chief constable Iain Livingstone’s annual assessment of the force’s performance made reference to it working in a European project targeted at MAP.
The report said the Horizon Europe Project was aimed at “providing them with the necessary support, treatment and guidance to help prevent criminal activities”.
Police Scotland emphasised it opposed describing paedophiles as MAPs and insisted the term had only been included in the report as it was used by the project’s commissioning documents.
But the report was published amid wider concerns by campaigners over what they see as attempts to rebrand paedophilia as a harmless sexual preference.
The term MAP is contentious because child abusers are trying to escape the stigma attached to paedophilia and maintain they should be regarded as a niche group alongside the LGBT community.
'The term is baloney'
Kenny McAskill, Scotland’s former justice secretary, said using euphemisms for paedophiles simply “masks the reality and their danger”.
“The term in whatever context is baloney,” he added.
Maggie Mellon, an independent social work consultant, said the term MAP risked “the danger of normalising and therefore perhaps decriminalising a serious offence”.
She added: “There should be diagnostic and treatment options for those who present a risk to children but the police are not a therapeutic service - they should be devoting their resources to closing down porn sites that feature children and abuse of women and upping their detection and conviction rates for those promoting child abuse.”
'Deeply disturbing and wrong'
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Most Scots will find any attempt to soften the language around paedophilia in official guidance to be deeply disturbing and wrong.
“Offences relating to paedophilia are among the most appalling and unforgivable crimes anyone can commit and it’s essential that Police Scotland guidance reflects this.”
A Police Scotland spokesman insisted the force did not use the term, saying: “The reference in the Chief Constable’s Assessment of Policing Performance 2021-22 was in the context of Police Scotland’s 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 is more commonly used on the continent.
“In September, Police Scotland representatives successfully lobbied for the MAP term not to be used by the consortium.”