Definition and Risks of Incestuous Relationships | Generated by AI
Question: What does incest mean?
Answer:
Incest refers to sexual activity or sexual intercourse between people who are closely related by blood or by marriage (close family members), in ways that are prohibited by law or by strong cultural taboo in almost every society.
Common examples of relationships considered incestuous in most countries and cultures include:
- Parent and child (father-daughter, mother-son, etc.)
- Siblings (brother-sister, brother-brother, sister-sister)
- Grandparent and grandchild
- Uncle/aunt and niece/nephew
- First cousins (in many countries this is the boundary — some places forbid it, many allow it)
Key points
- The definition is both biological (blood relatives) and legal/social (some societies also include step-parents, step-siblings, adoptive relationships)
- Almost all modern legal systems criminalize incest between parents/children and between siblings
- First-cousin marriage is legal in many countries (including most of Europe, most of Asia, Canada, Australia, etc.), but illegal in some U.S. states and a few other places
- The main reasons societies forbid incest are:
- Genetic risks (higher chance of recessive genetic disorders in children)
- Disruption of family roles and hierarchy
- Protection of children from abuse by authority figures in the family
In everyday English usage today, when someone says “that’s incest” or “they’re committing incest”, they almost always mean sexual relations between parent/child or brother/sister.
References:
- None (standard dictionary + legal definition)