Incest Is a Social Problem
Incest is a Social Problem
Kelli Figley
Incest is a Social Problem
One out of every ten homes is not a home, but the cell of an incest victim, a child waiting in terror night after night, hoping against experience that her father will not come to her room tonight, that her body and trust will not be violated again (Vander Mey & Neff, 1986). I brought up the topic of incest in a conversation I was having with some close friends and out of the 5 people I was talking with, only one did not laugh at least once during the conversation. Does this mean that we find the topic of incest something that both parties are consenting to or that the underlying problem of child abuse is not recognized because this abuse is within your family? A document from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (2009) describes incest as sexual contact between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal (e.g., parents and children, uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, etc.). This usually takes the form of an older family member sexually abusing a child or adolescent. Incest by a female (mother) is generally viewed as untrue because as a society we turn a blind eye to the fact that someone who is supposed to support us, teach us how to be a mother and be the shoulder to cry on could ever be the one to hurt a child sexually. Incest against females by females has added to the social issue of Incest because as society we are in denial. The social issue of incest has yet to be addressed as an ongoing problem as many people believe that it only happens once and that the person responsible feels guilty and does not do it again. Reality is that even if guilty many continue to abuse their children sexually “I remember that I touched my daughter about 60 or 70 times and a lot o those times we had intercourse. I usually felt really guilty about this and didn’t know how to deal with it” (Martens, 1988). As a society we are quick to place blame on
Kelli Figley
Incest is a Social Problem
One out of every ten homes is not a home, but the cell of an incest victim, a child waiting in terror night after night, hoping against experience that her father will not come to her room tonight, that her body and trust will not be violated again (Vander Mey & Neff, 1986). I brought up the topic of incest in a conversation I was having with some close friends and out of the 5 people I was talking with, only one did not laugh at least once during the conversation. Does this mean that we find the topic of incest something that both parties are consenting to or that the underlying problem of child abuse is not recognized because this abuse is within your family? A document from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (2009) describes incest as sexual contact between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal (e.g., parents and children, uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, etc.). This usually takes the form of an older family member sexually abusing a child or adolescent. Incest by a female (mother) is generally viewed as untrue because as a society we turn a blind eye to the fact that someone who is supposed to support us, teach us how to be a mother and be the shoulder to cry on could ever be the one to hurt a child sexually. Incest against females by females has added to the social issue of Incest because as society we are in denial. The social issue of incest has yet to be addressed as an ongoing problem as many people believe that it only happens once and that the person responsible feels guilty and does not do it again. Reality is that even if guilty many continue to abuse their children sexually “I remember that I touched my daughter about 60 or 70 times and a lot o those times we had intercourse. I usually felt really guilty about this and didn’t know how to deal with it” (Martens, 1988). As a society we are quick to place blame on