The best way to handle these emotions and get back in charge of your life is to talk with sympathetic friends and family or counselors from the rape crisis center, mental health agency, or a women's clinic. Even if you don't have this problem, someone you know may. UNC of Chapel Hill provides services to help victims of rape and incest. Other places to look are community mental health centers, women's clinics, legal aid agencies, and social service agencies. Most victims are girls, although it can happen to boys as well.
Incest occurs through persuasion and pressure more often than by physical violence.
It becomes a closely held secret, continuing for years. The victims feel shame, anger, and guilt and usually believe they must handle the situation alone. Incest victims who have to depend on their abusers for food and shelter tell themselves it wont happen again, or worry about sending their father, stepfather, uncle, or brother to jail. The best way to stop incest is to tell someone you trust and who will believe you. Keep reminding yourself that incest is not an expression of love and that you have the right not to be touched sexually by anyone against your will.