"Sex between brothers and sisters should be LEGAL"

Sex between brothers and sisters should be LEGAL, says German government’s Ethics Council 

• Council spoke of right of 'adult siblings to sexual self-determination' 
• Said this was more important than 'abstract idea of protection of the family'
• Dismissed claim that incest causes disabilities as not having enough weight 
• Argued those who have genetic defects are not banned from having children
• Comes after case of brother imprisoned for having four children with sister
• He was adopted, and pair met for first time when he was 24 and she was 16
• Two of Patrick Stuebing and Susan Karolewski's children are disabled
• Stuebing failed in 2012 appeal to have his family brought back together 

By Alex Finnis for MailOnline

Published: 18:24 GMT, 29 September 2014 | Updated: 18:42 GMT, 29 September 2014

 

 

Incest laws could be scrapped in Germany after the government's ethics council said sex between brothers and sisters should be legal and is a 'fundamental right'.

The council recommended that the right of 'adult siblings to sexual self-determination' was more important then the 'abstract idea of protection of the family'.

It comes after the case of Patrick Stuebing, who was jailed for more than three years after having four children - two of which are disabled  - with his sister Susan Karolewski.

The German Ethics Council has suggested that sex between brothers and sisters should be legalised

Stuebing was put up for adoption as a toddler and only met his sister when he was 24 and she was 16. He was imprisoned for incest in 2008.

 

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He made an unsuccessful appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in 2012 over his right to a family life - as he and Ms Karolewski were split up and three of their children were taken into care. The youngest was allowed to remain with Ms Karolewski.

The German Ethics Council said in a statement that 'criminal law is not the appropriate means to preserve a social taboo', adding that the risk of disability to children is enough to warrant incest being illegal.

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the suggestion of decriminalising incest comes after the case of Patrick Stuebing, who was jailed for more than three years after having four children - two of which are disabled - with his sister Susan Karolewski

'Neither the consequences for the family nor the possibility for descendants from such incestuous relationships can justify a ban under criminal law,' it said.

'Incest between siblings appears to be very rare in Western societies according to the available data but those affected describe how difficult their situation is in light of the threat of punishment.

THE INCESTUOUS RELATIONSHIP WHICH COULD CHANGE THE LAW 

Patrick Stuebing, born in Leipzig, Germany in 1977, was fostered at the age of three after being attacked with a knife by his alcoholic father, and did not meet his mother or sister again until he was 23.

He says his relationship with Susan Karolewski became incestuous six months after their mother died from a heart attack in 2001, and Ms Karolewski gave birth to their first child in October of that year, when she was 16.

Two of their children have severe mental and physical disabilities, and another has a heart condition which required a transplant. 

Stuebing was sentenced to 10 moths in prison after his second incest conviction, and then a further two and a half years for his third conviction. 

'They feel their fundamental freedoms have been violated and are forced into secrecy or to deny their love.

'The Ethics Council has been told of cases where half-siblings did not grow up together and have only met in their adult lives,' The Independent reported it saying.

Despite saying that sex between brothers and sisters should be made legal, the council recommended that sex between parents and children should remain against the law. 

It is believed that incest increases the risk of children being born with disabilities, but the Ethics Council dismissed this as an argument for it being illegal, saying that couples with genetic defects are not banned from having children.

However, Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party have been quick to push away the idea of legalising incest.

Spokeswoman Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker said that it would give out the wrong signal, telling Deutsche Welle: 'Abolishing criminal punishment against incestuous actions within a family would go completely against protecting the undisturbed development of children.'

Around two to four per cent of Germans have had 'incestuous experiences', according to an estimate by the Max Planck Institute reported by The Telegraph.

Incest is illegal in the UK and most of Europe, though sex between consenting adults who are related is legal in France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2773986/Sex-brothers-sisters-LEGAL-says-German-government-s-Ethics-Council.html#ixzz3EmtIBoIN