Incest Should Not Be a Crime

Incest, meaning sex with a close relative, is a crime in almost all state of the US, and many countries. All laws against incest should be repealed, overturned, or rewritten.

There are two basic points...

1. Consenting adults should be allowed love, sex, and marriage with each other. This would include sex with close relatives; consanguineous sex or consanguinamorous relationships. Unfortunately, the way the incest laws are written, consensual sex between adults is illegal, and is prosecuted. Most people can’t give anything close to a good reason why. These laws are a vestige of when people thought it was a good idea to try to force others into majority-approved relationships: male-dominant, heterosexual, supposedly monogamous, nonconsanguineous, monoracial. Today, most people agree that consenting adults should be allowed their love and sex lives.

2. Child abuse and rape. There is not any form or example of nonconsensual incest that isn’t rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, child rape, or child molestation. In other words, every act of incest that should be criminal is criminal under other laws. So laws with a blanket prohibition in incest are not needed. Incest should only be an enhancing factor in sentencing someone guilty of those other crimes, if they were considered a custodial guardian, or influential family member (significantly older in-home brother, or aunt, for examples.)

Consanguineous sex has been legal in Rhode Island for more than 20 years now. Have there been any negative effects? No. Certain other states won’t prosecute. Things are fine in those places, too.

Intrusive and unnecessary laws that demean happy, loving relationships should be scrapped.