[Sex abuse within the family]

In the last years great attention was paid to the wide occurrence of sexual abuse in families. Some results about frequency, distribution of age and peaks of denouncement as well as some special kinds of incest are summarized with regard to sexual molestation of children. Referring to a case report, typical difficulties of revealing sexual abuse, some characteristics of family dynamics and transgenerational aspects of incestuous families and consequences of sexual molestation in later life are reported. Finally, some aspects in the therapeutic proceeding for overcoming the incestuous experience are considered.