Something is rotten in Nova Scotia, Canada…
So what are we to make of this story, which suffers from lack of detail?
I notice that the charge is not rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, or child molestation, and the brother is called a "partner."
Based on all of this, are we to assume that the brother was a willing participant, but younger than her?
I wish we had more information. As it is, it appears to me that this is a ridiculous prosecution and the whole thing should be dropped. She should be allowed to marry him, if that is what they want. People should have the right to consensual sex without fear that their own government is going to imprison or fine them.
UPDATE: The brother is of age and is also being prosecuted.
A 26-year-old Amherst female is facing a charge of incest.The article does not indicate the age of her brother, does not imply this was anything other than consensual, and does not say that the brother has been charged.
The female, who can't be identified due to a publication ban, is charged with having sexual intercourse while knowing the partner was her brother.
So what are we to make of this story, which suffers from lack of detail?
I notice that the charge is not rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, or child molestation, and the brother is called a "partner."
Based on all of this, are we to assume that the brother was a willing participant, but younger than her?
I wish we had more information. As it is, it appears to me that this is a ridiculous prosecution and the whole thing should be dropped. She should be allowed to marry him, if that is what they want. People should have the right to consensual sex without fear that their own government is going to imprison or fine them.
UPDATE: The brother is of age and is also being prosecuted.
![Non-Monogamy Diagram [I:FV]](http://www.obsidianfields.com/lj/nonmonogamy2.5.1.gif){kind=link}
I agree that the government is wrong to persecute this woman IF her brother was a consenting adult. If this is an example of abuse of some sort then naturally the authorities are quite right to step in to protect her brother. Consensual sex between competent adults should never be a crime, but neither should someone be permitted to coerce or manipulate another into "consenting" to sex they don't actually want.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is important that people who are in an incestuous relationship learn to keep that relationship a secret. The "crime" here is not that she had consensual sex with another adult who was related to her, but that one or both of them failed to keep that sex a secret.
Personal privacy is the first, last, and only defense against the tyranny of the majority.
In a society in which it is a moral offense to be different from your neighbor your only escape is to never let them find out.