When Love Hurts: Preadolescent Girls' Reports of Incest

The present study explored incest behavior as it was reported by young girls in Internet chat rooms. Thirty-eight percent of the girls in the study reported having sex with a relative. The most frequent type of incest (36%) was between a father and his daughter. Thirty-six percent of girls reported that the incest occurred before they were 10 years of age. After the initial intercourse, which virtually all girls reported as painful, many of the girls stated that the sexual behavior was a part of their life, occurring on a regular basis. The actual accounts of the girls are included in this article. Therapeutic implications are presented, as well as the socially constructed meaning of the behavior within the context of larger socio-historical values.