On both sides of the world a controversial question is being posed. Should incest continue to be considered taboo?
In Australia, District Court Judge Garry Neilson drew parallels with widely changing attitudes towards gay sex.
As reported in the UK's Independent the judge claimed that 'we’ve come a long way from the 1950s … when the position of the English Common Law was that sex outside marriage was not lawful.”
Judge Neilson added that incest was only illegal “to prevent chromosomal abnormalities” and drew comparisons with the acceptance of homosexuality.
The Judge's outspokenness on this topic has resulted in Crown Prosecutor Sally Dowling describing Neilson's views as “misogynistic” and 'completely disgraceful.”
(This may be because Neilson did not seem to differentiate between sex between consenting adult siblings and sex between parent and child, which may actually be central to this debate)
The Independent reports that 'Nielson has now been referred to the NSW Judicial Commission by NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard, who has also asked the Chief Judge of the District Court that Neilson be removed from any criminal trials pending an investigation into the matter.
“I was extremely concerned to read the comments of His Honour Judge Garry Neilson in regard to his views on incest,” Hazzard said in a statement.
“In my view the community would be rightly appalled at his reported comments. Incest is completely reprehensible, unacceptable, disgusting and criminal.”
But is all incest all those things? Is incest too broad a term? Does there need to be some differentiation between sex between consenting adult siblings and sex between a parent and a child? Would that make a difference or not?
In Germany the difference is relevant.
Again, reported by the UK's Independent, 'Germany’s national ethics council has called for an end to the criminalisation of incest between siblings after examining the case of a man who had four children with his sister.' 'Sexual relations between siblings or between parents and their children are forbidden under section 173 of the German criminal code and offenders can face years in prison.
But the German Ethics Council recommended the section be repealed, arguing that the risk of disability in children is not enough to warrant the law and de-criminalising incest would not remove the huge social taboo around it.
A statement released on Wednesday said: “Incest between siblings appears to be very rare in Western societies according to the available data but those affected describe how difficult their situation is in light of the threat of punishment.
“They feel their fundamental freedoms have been violated and are forced into secrecy or to deny their love.'
“The Ethics Council has been told of cases where half-siblings did not grow up together and have only met in their adult lives.”
“The majority of the German Ethics Council is of the opinion that it is not appropriate for a criminal law to preserve a social taboo,” it added.
“In the case of consensual incest among adult siblings, neither the fear of negative consequences for the family , nor the possibility of the birth of children from such incestuous relationships can justify a criminal prohibition.
“The fundamental right of adult siblings to sexual self-determination has more weight in such cases than the abstract protection of the family.
Members objecting to decriminalising incest argued that it would weaken “ethically significant” family values that contribute towards personal development.
A spokeswoman for Angela Merkel's CDU party, Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, responded to the Ethics Council's vote saying that the abolition of the law against incest would give out the wrong signal.
“Abolishing criminal punishment against incestuous actions within a family would go completely against protecting the undisturbed development of children,” she told Deutsche Welle.
The Ethics Council’s recommendation only covered incest between siblings and members did not recommend decriminalising sex between parents and children.'
So, how do we protect the vulnerable who may be exploited and harmed by the incestuest actions of parents while at the same time upholding the rights of consenting adults to sexual self-determination?
Is our current definition of incest too broad?
Could it be that like homosexuality, there will be a time in the future where sex between siblings will be considered socially acceptable and legally permissable? For instance consensual sex between closely related family members (18 years and older) is already lawful in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Does our society need to explore this sensitive subject in greater depth or are some topics just not up for discussion?
What do you think?
Image source
It is proposed that consensual sex between adult siblings should be legally permissible