Incest is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity, and sometimes those related by affinity, adoption, or lineage. It is strictly forbidden and considered immoral in most societies, and can lead to an increased risk of genetic disorders in children.
Diana E. H. Russell was a feminist writer and activist. Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, she moved to England in 1957, and then to the United States in 1961. For the past 45 years she was engaged in research on sexual violence against women and girls. She wrote numerous books and articles on rape, including marital rape, femicide, incest, misogynist murders of women, and pornography. For The Secret Trauma, she was co-recipient of the 1986 C. Wright Mills Award. She was also the recipient of the 2001 Humanist Heroine Award from the American Humanist Association. She was also an organizer of the First International Tribunal on Crimes against Women, in Brussels in March 1976.
Roseanne Harris Conner was the title character of the TV series Roseanne, created and portrayed by comedian and namesake Roseanne Barr. Roseanne, in a takeoff of her stand-up comedic and presumed real-life persona, is bossy, loud, caustic, overweight, and dominant. She constantly tries to control the lives of her sister, husband, children, co-workers, and friends. Despite her dominating nature, Roseanne is a loving wife and mother and loyal friend who works hard and makes as much time for her family as possible.
Stacey Ann Lannert is an American woman convicted of the murder of her father, Tom Lannert, when she was 18 years old. She testified that he had sexually abused her since she was eight years old. Sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, she served 18 years.
Laws regarding incest vary considerably between jurisdictions, and depend on the type of sexual activity and the nature of the family relationship of the parties involved, as well as the age and sex of the parties. Besides legal prohibitions, at least some forms of incest are also socially taboo or frowned upon in most cultures around the world.
The Fritzl case emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl told police in the town of Amstetten, Lower Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl. Fritzl had assaulted, sexually abused, and raped his daughter repeatedly during her imprisonment inside a concealed area in the cellar of the family home. The incest resulted in the birth of seven children, three of whom remained in captivity with their mother; one died shortly after birth and was cremated by Fritzl; and the other three were brought up by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, having been reported as foundlings. Josef Fritzl was arrested on suspicion of rape, false imprisonment, manslaughter by negligence, and incest. In March 2009, he pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Florence Rush was an American certified social worker, feminist theorist and organizer best known for introducing The Freudian Coverup in her presentation "The Sexual Abuse of Children: A Feminist Point of View", about childhood sexual abuse and incest, at the April 1971 New York Radical Feminists (NYRF) Rape Conference. Rush's paper at the time was the first challenge to Freudian theories of children as the seducers of adults rather than the victims of adults' sexual/power exploitation.
In the infamous 2003 Kiliroor sex scandal, a teenaged girl named Sari S. Nair, hailing from Kiliroor, Kottayam, Kerala, India was sexually abused by reportedly being promised roles in TV serials. She was taken to many places in and around Kerala and was allegedly exploited sexually by "influential persons". Shari S Nair later died after she gave birth to a daughter who is now being raised by her parents.
The Álvarez incest case was uncovered late March 2009 when 59-year-old Arcedio Álvarez was arrested in Mariquita, Colombia, accused of imprisoning and sexually abusing his daughter Alba Nidia Álvarez over a period of 25 years, beginning from when she was nine years old. The daughter also gave birth to 14 children, six of whom died due to lack of medical care.
Child sexual abuse laws in the United States have been enacted as part of the nation's child protection policies.
Shari Lynn Karney is an American attorney, incest-survivor activist, and former bar exam preparation company owner.
Remember Me is a Fantasy/Horror book series written by American author Christopher Pike. The series centers around what a recent high school graduate, Shari Cooper, does after dying, having been murdered at a friend's party.
Pregnancy is a potential result of rape. It has been studied in the context of war, particularly as a tool for genocide, as well as in other unrelated contexts, such as rape by a stranger, statutory rape, incest, and underage pregnancy. The current scientific consensus is that rape is at least as likely to lead to pregnancy as consensual sexual intercourse, with some studies suggesting rape may actually result in higher rates of pregnancy than consensual intercourse.
The Round House is a novel by the American writer Louise Erdrich first published on October 2, 2012 by HarperCollins. The Round House is Erdrich's 14th novel and is part of her "justice trilogy" of novels, which includes The Plague of Doves released in 2008 and LaRose in 2016. The Round House follows the story of Joe Coutts, a 13-year-old boy who is frustrated with the poor investigation into his mother's gruesome attack and sets out to find his mother's attacker with the help of his best friends, Cappy, Angus, and Zack. Like most of Erdrich's other works, The Round House is set on an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota.
In the United States, the legality of incest varies widely between jurisdictions regarding both the definition of the offense and penalties for its commission.
The Colt family incest case concerns an Australian family discovered in 2012 to have been engaging in four generations of incest beginning with a couple known as Tim and June Colt, who emigrated from New Zealand in the 1970s. They all lived on a farm near Boorowa, New South Wales. The family members' true identities remain unknown to the public. The name "Colt" is a pseudonym used by New South Wales courts and government agencies, as are all of the family's given names.
Mormon abuse cases are cases of confirmed and alleged abuse, including child sexual abuse, by churches in the Latter Day Saint movement and its agents.
After a sexual assault or rape, victims are often subjected to scrutiny and, in some cases, mistreatment. Victims undergo medical examinations and are interviewed by police. If there is a criminal trial, victims suffer a loss of privacy, and their credibility may be challenged. Victims may also become the target of slut-shaming, abuse, social stigmatization, sexual slurs and cyberbullying. These factors, contributing to a rape culture, are among some of the reasons that may contribute up to 80% of all rapes going unreported in the U.S, according to a 2016 study done by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Rebecca Kiessling is an American anti-abortion activist and attorney. Her advocacy is focused on criminalizing abortion, including in the case of pregnancy from rape.
