I.

INTRODUCTION A. Background

Child sexual abuse has become one of the most talked about topics today. This kind of abuse takes a lot of forms including child pornography rings, rapes, molestations, statutory rapes and incest. According to some US statistics, in a large majority of the cases, the victims are somebody that the attackers knew. This includes members of their own family. Incest is defined as any sexual activity between closely related persons that is socially taboo, and often illegal. This often refers to the members of their own immediate family, although some cultures define this differently to others. For example, in Arab culture, marriage between first cousins is permissible, but it is largely considered taboo in some American Cultures. Father-daughter incest is the largest reported cases. When this happens between adults and children, it is considered as child sexual abuse. Studies have shown that this form of sexual abuse can lead to lifelong psychological trauma, with parental incest having the biggest negative impact on somebodys mental health. Parents, especially fathers that are supposed to take care of their children, to protect them against predators become sexual predators themselves. There are laws that protect children against sexual predators. But these crimes are usually happens behind closed doors. Children are often too scared to relate their predicament to any outsiders, especially when they are raped by someone they trust, like their parents. This act destroys whatever trust that they have to others. The laws are often incapable of prosecuting the perpetrators since lack of evidence and witnesses usually hamper the cases. 2. Problem statement The crime of incest is an interesting topic because it breaks many social barriers, including religious norms and social norms. Fathers are by nature protective over their children. But when incest happens, this has become opposed the societal norm, the family institution, the law and the trust of a child. Not only that he had committed sex out of wedlock, but sex with his own offspring is usually deplorable by almost all people from around the world and universally condemned by almost all societies. The purpose of this research is to understand why some people commit incest. This research is associated to crime, society and family institution. To the victim, the crime of incest, especially when a parent rapes his own child, is a traumatic experience that affects their life which is irreversible. This research intends to explore

the reason why some parents rape their own children. This is so that the other members of the family can take measures to protect the children should one parent show the signs of committing this crime