Parent–Child Incest That Extends Into Adulthood: A Survey of International Press Reports, 2007–2011

Abstract

Although the subject of ongoing incestuous abuse during adulthood has never been addressed in a systematic way in the professional literature, accounts of such cases have been appearing for many years. The Josef Fritzl case added a new impetus to reporting such abuses in the popular press. The current study presents 44 such cases from 24 countries that appeared in English-language press accounts over 5 years commencing January 2007. These cases are discussed in light of the minimal coverage of such issues in the professional literature. The results of this study suggest that cases of enduring incest are not rare and typically incorporate decades of sexual abuse, frequently result in pregnancies, and commonly incorporate ongoing violence and death threats.

Keywords:

• incest
• adulthood
• dissociative identity disorder