ABSTRACT
Incest (from Latin in, “not”; and castus, “chaste”) is sexual intimacy between people who are too closely related by blood or family ties to be able to marry. Incest may occur between two consenting adults, such as grown up brother and sister, or between a mother and her adult son. More commonly, however, children below the age of consent are sexually exploited by a senior member of the family. This is known as intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse (ICSA) or incest rape. It has been considered the most prevalent and most devastating form of child sexual abuse.1 Incest is not mentioned in DSM-IV-TR as a separate disorder, but it does recommend specifying incest in all cases of pedophilia (please see Table 2.1, from the chapter on pedophilia).
