Incest is sexual activity between family members or close relatives. The incest taboo is and has been one of the most widespread of all cultural taboosboth in present and in many past societies. In most cases, the parents did not have the option to marry to remove that status, as incestuous marriages were, and are, normally also prohibited. A common justification for prohibiting incest is avoiding inbreeding: And second, the incest taboo also applies to non-procreative sex—for example, sex between infertile relatives, relatives of the same sex, or sex performed with birth control.
In some societies, such as those of Ancient Egypt and others, brother—sister, father—daughter, mother—son, cousin—cousin, aunt—nephew, uncle—niece, and other combinations of relations were practiced among royalty as a means of perpetuating the royal lineage.
However, sexual relations with a first-degree relative such as a parent or sibling are almost universally forbidden. The English word incest is derived from the Latin incestuswhich has a general meaning of "impure, unchaste". It was introduced into Middle Englishboth in the generic Latin sense preserved throughout the Middle English period [16] and in the narrow modern sense.
The derived adjective incestuous appears in the 16th century. Terms like incester [18] [19] [20] and incestual [21] [22] have been used to describe those interested or involved in sexual relations with relatives among humans, while inbreeder has been used in relation to similar behavior among non-human animals or organisms. In ancient Chinafirst cousins with the same surnames i. Several of the Egyptian Pharaohs married their siblings and had several children with them.
For example, Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamunand was himself the child of an incestuous union between Akhenaten and an unidentified sister-wife. It is now generally accepted that sibling marriages were widespread among all classes in Egypt during the Graeco-Roman period. Numerous papyri and the Roman census declarations attest to many husbands and wives being brother and sister, of the same father and mother. The fable of Oedipuswith a theme of inadvertent incest between a mother and son, ends in disaster and shows ancient taboos against incest as Oedipus is punished for incestuous actions by blinding himself.
In the "sequel" to Oedipus, Antigonehis four children are also punished for their parents' incestuousness. Incest appears in the commonly accepted version of the birth of Adoniswhen his mother, Myrrha has sex with her father Cinyras during a festival, disguised as a prostitute. Greek law allowed marriage between a brother and sister if they had different mothers.
For example, some accounts say that Elpinice was for a time married to her half-brother Cimon. Roman civil law prohibited marriages within four degrees of consanguinity [31] but had no degrees of affinity with regards to marriage. Roman civil laws prohibited any marriage between parents and children, either in the ascending or descending line ad infinitum. In AD incest was explicitly forbidden by an imperial edict, which divided the concept of incestus into two categories of unequal gravity: Therefore, for example, an Egyptian could marry an aunt, but a Roman could not.
Despite the act of incest being unacceptable within the Roman Empire, Roman Emperor Caligula is rumored to have had sexual relationships with all three of his sisters Julia LivillaDrusillaand Agrippina the Younger. Loki in turn also accuses Freyja and Freyr of having a sexual relationship. According to Genesis Because of intoxication, Lot "perceived not" when his firstborn, and the following night his younger daughter, lay with him. According to the Book of JubileesCain married his sister Awan.
Many European monarchs were related due to political marriages, sometimes resulting in distant cousins and even first cousins being married. This was especially true in the HabsburgHohenzollernSavoy and Bourbon royal houses. However, relations between siblings, which may have been tolerated in other cultures, were considered abhorrent.
For example, the accusation that Anne Boleyn and her brother George Boleyn had committed incest was one of the reasons that both siblings were executed in May Half-sibling marriages were found in ancient Japan such as the marriage of Emperor Bidatsu and his half-sister Empress Suiko.
Her name was Daemok. One example of this is the 14th century Chunghye of Goryeowho raped one of his deceased father's concubineswho was thus regarded to be his mother.
In the South Indian state of Tamil Naduit is a widely practiced custom for men to marry their sisters' daughters.
Incest between an adult and a person under the age of consent is considered a form of child sexual abuse [46] [47] that has been shown to be one of the most extreme forms of childhood abuse; it often results in serious and long-term psychological traumaespecially in the case of parental incest.
Father - daughter incest was for many years the most commonly reported and studied form of incest. Sex between an adult family member and a child is usually considered a form of child sexual abuse [65] known as child incestuous abuse[66] and for many years has been the most reported form of incest.
Father—daughter and stepfather—stepdaughter sex is the most commonly reported form of adult-child incest, with most of the remaining involving a mother or stepmother. In a news story, BBC reported, "Close-knit family life in India masks an alarming amount of sexual abuse of children and teenage girls by family members, a new report suggests.
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime a large proportion of rape committed in the United States is perpetrated by a family member:. A study of victims of father—daughter incest in the s showed that there were "common features" within families before the occurrence of incest: Oldest and only daughters were more likely to be the victims of incest.
It was also stated that the incest experience was psychologically harmful to the woman in later life, frequently leading to feelings of low self-esteem, very unhealthy sexual activity, contempt for other women, and other emotional problems. Adults who as children were incestuously victimized by adults often suffer from low self-esteemdifficulties in interpersonal relationships, and sexual dysfunctionand are at an extremely high risk of many mental disorders, including depressionanxiety disordersphobic avoidance reactionssomatoform disordersubstance abuseborderline personality disorderand complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
During interrogation by police, several of the adults openly admitted to engaging in many forms of sexual activity, up to and including full intercourse, multiple times with the children. Sixteen adults both men and women were charged with hundreds of allegations of incest and sexual abuse of children as young as five. In Japan, there is a popular misconception that mother-son incestuous contact is common, due to the manner in which it is depicted in the press and popular media.
According to Hideo Tokuoka, "When Americans think of incest, they think of fathers and daughters; in Japan one thinks of mothers and sons" due to the extensive media coverage of mother-son incest there.
While incest between adults and children generally involves the adult as the perpetrator of abuse, there are rare instances of sons sexually assaulting their mothers. These sons are typically mid adolescent to young adult, and, unlike parent-initiated incest, the incidents involve some kind of physical force.
Although the mothers may be accused of being seductive with their sons and inviting the sexual contact, this is contrary to evidence. In some cases, mother-son incest is best classified as acquaintance rape of the mother by the adolescent son.
Childhood sibling—sibling incest is considered to be widespread but rarely reported. In this form, it is believed to be the most common form of intrafamilial abuse. Sibling abusive incest is most prevalent in families where one or both parents are often absent or emotionally unavailable, with the abusive siblings using incest as a way to assert their power over a weaker sibling.
Sexual activity between adult close relatives is sometimes ascribed to genetic sexual attraction. Proponents of incest between consenting adults draw clear boundaries between the behavior of consenting adults and rape, child molestation, and abusive incest.
According to one incest participant who was quoted for an article in The Guardian:. You can't help who you fall in love with, it just happens. I fell in love with my sister and I'm not ashamed I only feel sorry for my mom and dad, I wish they could be happy for us. We love each other. It's nothing like some old man who tries to fuck his three-year-old, that's evil and disgusting Of course we're consenting, that's the most important thing.
We're not fucking perverts. What we have is the most beautiful thing in the world. In SlateWilliam Saletan drew a legal connection between gay sex and incest between consenting adults. Senator Rick Santorum commented on a pending U. Supreme Court case involving sodomy laws primarily as a matter of Constitutional rights to Privacy and Equal Protection under the Law:.
Saletan argued that, legally and morally, there is essentially no difference between the two, and went on to support incest between consenting adults being covered by a legal right to privacy.
In the Netherlandsmarrying one's nephew or niece is legal, but only with the explicit permission of the Dutch Government, due to the possible risk of genetic defects among the offspring. Nephew-niece marriages predominantly occur among foreign immigrants. Consensual sex between adults persons of 18 years and older is always lawful in the Netherlands and Belgium, even among closely related family members. Sexual acts between an adult family member and a minor are illegal, though they are not classified as incest, but as abuse of the authority such an adult has over a minor, comparable to that of a teacher, coach or priest.
In Florida, consensual adult sexual intercourse with someone known to be your aunt, uncle, niece or nephew constitutes a felony of the third degree. In the United Kingdom, incest includes only sexual intercourse with a parent, grandparent, child or sibling, [] but the more recently introduced offence of "sex with an adult relative" extends also as far as half-siblings, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces.
Because of violent behavior on the part of his father, Patrick was taken in at the age of 3 by foster parents, who adopted him later. At the age of 23 he learned about his biological parents, contacted his mother, and met her and his then year-old sister Susan for the first time. The now-adult Patrick moved in with his birth family shortly thereafter.
After their mother died suddenly six months later, the siblings became intimately close, and had their first child together in Bythey had four children together: Eric, Sarah, Nancy, and Sofia. The public nature of their relationship, and the repeated prosecutions and even jail time they have served as a result, has caused some in Germany to question whether incest between consenting adults should be punished at all.
An article about them in Der Spiegel states that the couple are happy together. According to court records, the first three children have mental and physical disabilities, and have been placed in foster care. Some societies differentiate between full sibling and half sibling relations.
In ancient societies, full sibling and half sibling marriages occurred. Marriages and sexual relationships between first cousins are stigmatized as incest in some cultures, but tolerated in much of the world. Currently, 24 US states prohibit marriages between first cousins, and another seven permit them only under special circumstances.
There are some cultures in Asia which stigmatize cousin marriage, in some instances even marriages between second cousins or more remotely related people. This is notably true in the culture of Korea. In South Korea, beforeanyone with the same last name and clan were prohibited from marriage.
In light of this law being held unconstitutional, South Korea now only prohibits up to third cousins see Article of the Korean Civil Code. Hmong culture prohibits the marriage of anyone with the same last name — to do so would result in being shunned by the entire community, and they are usually stripped of their last name [ citation needed ]. Some Hindu communities in India prohibit cousin marriages.
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