The Act of Incest: Who made it a crime?

Does Incest have to be wrong because the Law says so?

We may have come across this issue of Incest being a crime or not, and you do not know what it entails. You've probably sought answers and haven't found.

This article seeks to inform you about all that there is to know about Incest as a crime, what Nigerian law and other foreign laws say about it, and why it should be prohibited or not.

What is Incest?

According to the Eighth Edition of the Black's Law Dictionary, page 776, "Incest Is the sexual relationship between family members or close relatives, including children related by adoption(ie. through consanguinity or affinity).

The Online Webster Dictionary defines Incest as "sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry".

Collins English Dictionary defines Incest as the crime of sexual intercourse, cohabitation, or marriage between persons within the degree of consanguinity or affinity where marriage is legally forbidden.

Psychologists define Incest as any intimate physical contact that is sexually arousing between non-married members of a family. This only means that sexual intercourse need not occur for a situation to be considered incestuous.

Origin of Incest

Incest is as old as time itself. Dated millions of years ago; in the days of Lot, Abraham's nephew and his two daughters. Out of fear and desperation of getting old and not married, Lot's two daughters got their father drunk, had carnal knowledge of him without his consent, and eventually had children through this act.

How do the Nigerian Laws perceive Incest?

Incest is a crime that goes as far as its definition in Nigerian society. In most African nations, incest is one of the most widespread of all cultural taboos, both in the present and in the past, according to Sociologists and Psychiatrists.

Nigerian Law doesn't specifically mention Incest as a crime but it falls under certain Crimes mentioned below.

Under the Matrimonial Causes Act (laws of the Federation of Nigeria), 2004 (as amended), marriage by Incest is prohibited, but it allows judicial permission for such marriage under Section 4 of the Act. Incest is captured as a "Prohibited degree of Consanguinity". It lists the prohibited degree of consanguinity to include that between Father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister, uncle and aunt, and niece and nephew; but it was observed that the sexual relationship of an adopted daughter or son is not mentioned in the list of the prohibited relations in this Act. However, a legally adopted son or daughter has become the same blood as the others in the family. Isn't it?

Under the Islamic Personal Law of Marriage, Quaran 4:23 prohibits sexual relationships based on blood relationships (father, mother, stepfather and mothers, siblings, far cousins, etc) and also based on milk relationships (foster mother, daughter, son, grandchildren, etc). Chapter 24:2 in the Quaran proscribes punishment for adultery or fornication which is 100 lashes for both parties. This only points to one thing: According to Islamic Personal Law, a Sexual relationship with the opposite sex without a valid and legal marriage conducted is either adultery or fornication depending on the marital status of either of the perpetrators.

Under the Penal Code Act of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 2007, no provision criminalizes incest. However, Section 282(1)(e) of the act provides that:

"(1) A man is said to commit rape who, save in the case referred to in Subsection (2), has sexual intercourse with a woman in any of the following circumstances.

With or without her consent, when she is under fourteen years of age or unsound mind".

This only implies that incest of a girl under the age of fourteen can be termed rape since consent is not a defense.

Under the Criminal Code Act which applies to the Southern part of the country, under Sections 218 and 221, it is an offense to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen and the age of sixteen respectively. Section 214(3) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap 77 (LFN) prescribes a minimum of 14 years imprisonment for those found guilty of incestuous liaison, which it referred to as an "offense against morality".

It is therefore clear that Incest is termed rape under Nigerian Criminal laws and some state laws have also criminalized it. This leads us to the most debated topic of the century.

Is it enough for Incest to be wrong just because the law says so?

A controversy has been in on the issue of incest, whether or not the government or society should interfere in how people live their lives.

Incest does not have to be about the issue of victimization by a relation before it becomes a crime, but unfortunately, the outrageous stories of Incest that pour in daily and that bring much shame and stigma are Incest Victimization stories, therefore Incest as a crime cannot be overlooked.

Most cases of Incest are between a mature male and a minor or vice versa. Just very few involve two consented adults.

A Medical Practioner, Alagbe Oyedeji, told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court, how a father allegedly used his fingers to test his 12-year-old daughter's virginity and then raped her. He also reported how the man would lace the girl's drink with a drug to make her sleepy; then have Carnal knowledge of her at their Oworonski Lagos home.

This and many more horrendous stories pour in every day about Incest Victimization which makes it of utmost importance.

Incest is indeed unfavorable to the victims so these cases must not be left unchecked.

Victims of Incest turned to suffer depression as they live with the act throughout their lives without sharing such experiences with others. In many cases, these young girls get pregnant and are forced to get a quack abortion that further damages their already damaged bodies.

Not just girls, young/teenage boys are equally taken advantage of in their ignorance by relations (mother, foster mother, nanny, sisters, etc), which may cause emotional and psychological trauma /damage and even sexual addiction from such an early stage.

There are also feelings of isolation, shame, and guilt, which foster a poor self-image and may even lead to suicidal behavior.

Out of religious sentiments, and the psychological and moral reasons why incest is not justifiable, there are scientific reasons too why it should never be permitted. Incest brings inbreeding: a collection of genetic disorders suffered by the children of parents with a close genetic relationship. When excessive inbreeding takes place, undesirable recessive genes become expressed and genetic defects and diseases are more readily perpetuated. There is a high chance that they will pass on conditions known as Autosomal Recessive Disorders, conditions that are inherited through recessive genes. They include Congenital disorders, death, and developmental and physical disability(cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia, and albinism). The chances are higher as the degree of relationship between both parties is closer (Average DNA shared).

The degree of relationship is calculated by adding the number of generations back to the closest common ancestor of each individual. Consanguinity(but not affinity) relationships, may be summarized as follows:

In order of Degree of relationship, the Relationship and Average DNA shared.

Inbred strain

99%

Identical twins; Clones

100%

Parent-offspring

50%

Full siblings

50%

¾ siblings or sibling-cousins

37.5%

Grandparent-Grandchild

25%

Half siblings

25%

Aunt/uncle-Nephew/niece

25%

Double first cousins

25%

Great grandparents-great grandchild

12.5%

First cousins

12.5%

Quadruple second cousins

12.5%

Triple second cousins

9.38%

Half-first cousins

6.25%

First cousins once removed

6.25%

Double second cousins

6.25%

Second cousins

3.13%

Third cousins

0.78%

Fourth cousins

0.20%

Most laws in different countries like Nigeria, Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Bhutan, and many others criminalizes incest with a degree of kinship 25% higher. While other countries like Spain, Israel, South Korea, Slovenia, Portugal, and Russia, etc, permit Incest, some with the condition that both parties must be above 18 years.

Arguments on Incest

It has been argued that incest between age peers (with neither partner, and more than 5 years older than the other) is none abusive, mutually desired, and often consists of nothing more than experimentation.

A debate was hoisted recently on this issue. While a large number of 78% of the people agreed to incest being legalized, 22% disapproved of it. Shocking right?

One argued that there should be freedom to give sexual love to whoever you want to love no matter whom, whether your father, mother, or siblings.

Another said it is nothing more than a word as it is safer to have this sexual love with your family whom you are sure are not infected with sexually transmitted diseases. Are you really sure of that claim?

Another person cited Bible instances of Abraham getting married to his cousin, Sarah. Isaac and Jacob too, all got married to their far cousins. And thus, asked why it would be different presently. And outrightly supported that none of us will be here if Adam and Eve's children didn't mate.

Another asserted that since Incest harms no one, why should it be illegalized?

And the last person noted that Abortion should be legalized to get rid of the defected children that may come through inbreeding but incest should be permitted.

As much as these arguments may look quite true from the surface, a deep dive into them only brings the discovery that they are more or less weightless. All these arguments will be analyzed in this article.

Back then, no one had this kind of knowledge. They were ignorant, no wonder the grace they sometimes received in not giving birth to disfigured kids. But as humanity evolved, eyes opened and wisdom increased. It was discovered that as a result of inbreeding, we may end up destroying the human race both physically and mentally.

The ancient people in the Bible needed a sort of cooperation and continuity of lineage, and the only other option they had was to intermarry.

If we claim it's our freedom to have sexual love with whomever we want, then nothing separates us from goats, dogs, and animals as a whole. We might as well seek to legalize bestiality. After all sexual freedom, right?

If you claim that it is better to have this sexual love with family members, just because you think it is safer. What if the family member in question already is infected with the STD? How will you find out? This argument does not even align.

Incest, again, just like rape is not just a word. It is a crime, more specifically, in every country that has termed it so and how.

Other societies have their way of terming it. For instance, the Igbos regard sexual relationships with anyone too closely related that you can't marry, as incest. This includes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins, relatives, and close in-laws. Some cultures like Fulani, only limit it to nuclear. So to them, having a sexual relationship with a cousin won't be termed incest because it's not bound by that crime.

This might have been the case in Abraham's time. Society didn't include having a sexual relationship with distant relatives as incest. Sarah was the daughter of Abraham's relative so she could be classified as 3rd or even 4th. So, since Incest is a crime that goes as far as its definition by the society in Abraham's time, it was not incest. They were ignorant.

Checking these points scientifically, it is even possible that we do not have the same genetic information and variations as Adam and Eve. For instance, in the contained generic information for different melanin pigments, hair texture, etc, that is so distinct now, that we classify as races.

The more these genes are passed down over the generations, the more watered down and precise these variations get. Now, imagine Adam and Eve were from the same watered-down, precise genes (same parents), how will Cain and Abel turn out?

The fact we may be ignorant of is that God's law does not exist to make us suffer. It's there to protect us from problems we can't even foresee.

Finally, coining Kant's words in a question: Is there an absolute law for incest or other actions?

Kant agreed that the mortality of action does not vary from circumstance to circumstance. Is there a reason incest is illegal? - Yes. If so, it is wrong because it is not a universal law. If everybody married a relative, there definitely would be no more variation of genes, and it would be a disaster for humanity. And before you realize it, the human race will go extinct.

Conclusion

This article has analyzed all that there is to know about Incest as a crime, what Nigerian law and other foreign laws say about it, and why it is never justifiable, both in the religious, psychological, moral, and scientific sense.

References

-Matrimonial Causes Act (LFN), 2004(as amended)

-Islamic Personal Law of Marriage

-https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/10/19/the-growing-cases-of-incest/

-https://www.thenews-chronicle.com/a-research-into-whether-incest-is-an-offence-in-nigeria/

-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/legality-of-incest

-https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/ramifications.incest

- https://www.debate.org/opinions/should-incest-be-allowed

- https://www.123helpme.com/essay/incest-71351

-https://lifestyle.thecable.ng/effects-of-incest-on-the-family-structure-in-nigeria

-Penal code Act of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 2007

AUTHOR