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| Incest
Incest: sexual intercourse between people who are usually legally prohibited from marrying because of their close matrimonial or blood relationship. Although there is some form of incest that is taboo (forbidden) in every society, the degree of relationship within which marriage is forbidden varies greatly from culture to culture and in different periods of history. Almost universally, sexual relations between mother and son, father and daughter, and sister and brother are forbidden. Studies indicate that incest, although rarely discussed, is a continuing problem in most societies. Sexual molestation by family members is a recurring form of child abuse. 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. Daniel
Lak spoke to women who have suffered rape at the hands of male relatives
Delhi organisation RAHI reports 76%
of respondents to its survey had been abused when they were children - 40%
of those by a family member. Women who gave evidence to RAHI spoke of the nightmare of abuse that haunts them still. "Every time my parents went out to a
party the bastard used to do it," said one. Another said: "When I told people in
my family about the abuse there was hostility, contempt and anger targeted
at me - I became an outcast." RAHI founder Anjua Gupta said she set up
the organization because she believed sexual abuse was rampant in Indian
families and no one was doing anything about it. The report, Voices from the Silent Zone, suggests that nearly three-quarters of upper and middle class Indian women are abused by a family member - more than often an uncle, a cousin or an elder brother. (Note: This data is very
consistent with the American statistics that 3 out of 4 women were abused
as children) Family facts of the abused
Mothers of the Abused |