Incest

Incest

Introduction

Incest is most generally defined as sexual activity between closely related persons and has been subject to taboo in almost every known society. It may occur between childhood siblings, between consenting adults, and in the form of familial sexual abuse. It is assumed that incest occurs more frequently than it is reported. Familial sexual abuse is the most frequently reported form of incest, although its actual prevalence is impossible to assess because of secrecy, shame, and fear of being blamed. Father-daughter incest is the most commonly reported form of sexual abuse in the family, while mother-son incest is the most infrequently documented.

In the 1940s psychoanalysts began looking at cases of incest, especially those of father—daughter incest. However, the first in-depth examination of incest did not occur until 1955, when sociologist Kirson S. Weinburg completed his research on the topic. Even after Weinburg's study, however, cases of incest were believed to be uncommon—until a shift from this belief occurred in the 1970s. Currently incest is viewed as more common than reports show and as a prevalent sexual crime against adolescents and young children.

Definitions

The definitions of incest vary. However, incest is often classified as any sexual contact (e.g., touching, fondling, oral sex, verbal seduction or abuse, and/or intercourse) between closely related persons (often within the immediate family) in which an adult coerces a child or adolescent or an older child coerces a younger child. Under this definition, incest includes father—daughter, stepfather—daughter, mother—son, stepmother—son, sibling—sibling, and extended family—child incest. The majority of reported incidents of incest occur between fathers and daughters and stepfathers and daughters (however, it is believed the true rate of sibling incest is underreported). Based on the majority of the information currently available, the most often discussed incidents of incest are those between a paternal figure (e.g., father or stepfather) and a child, thus this entry sometimes refers to the perpetrator of incest as male.

Prevalence of Incest in Kuwait

Determining the number of incidents of incest within the Kuwait is a difficult task. This void in information can be attributed to a number of different factors, the most significant of which is that incest remains highly underreported. Nevertheless, incest has still been cited as the most common form of child abuse. In addition to being severely underreported, accurate rates of incest are also difficult to ascertain due to differences in definitions and methods of data collection and sampling. To the detriment of investigations of the prevalence of incest, research often fails to distinguish between familial child abuse and nonfamilial child abuse. Thus, though there is not an accurate prevalence rate for incidents of child incest, it is recognized that this is a significant crime that needs significant attention.

Occurrence of Incest in Kuwait

Incidents of incest occur when someone uses a position of power, emotional manipulation, and threats to achieve the goal of sexual satisfaction. Incidents of incest often do not include physical force or coercion; however, the perpetrator's use of verbal threats is a common strategy used to coerce the child into committing ...