Bonobos do not have sex with unwilling partners

From Brongersma
Jump to navigation Jump to search

As an anthropologist, when I am searching for an explanation of a human behavior, I look at the behavior of other primates - our closest relatives - or other mammals.

I haven't been able to come up with another species in which pedophilia is a common or normal behavior. I have not found any report of forced sex with juveniles in nonhuman primates. Although bonobos are reported to engage in frequent sex in "all possible combinations" - including adults with juveniles - they do not have sex with unwilling partners.

source: Article 'The Animal Connection - Why Do Rape and Pedophilia Exist?' by Pat Shipman, Ph.D.; www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-animal-connection/201111/why-do-rape-and-pedophilia-exist; Psychology Today; 29 November 2011