The incest experiences reported involve preadolescent and adolescent girls sexually exploited by their fathers, stepfathers, and older brothers. In addition to the details of the incest, the victims discuss their attitudes toward the incest experience over the short-term and the long-term. Fear, guilt, low self-esteem, isolation, disillusionment, anger, and confusion about the meaning of relationships are common consequences of incest. The victims carry many of these effects into adulthood. The author comments on how society, notably the court system and child protection services have responded to incest victims and to the mothers. She notes that the courts often remove children from the family and into foster families that may themselves be abusive and inadequate to deal with the child's needs. In divorces where incest is involved, the courts often fail to take this into account in custody and visitation decisions. Also, mothers are often deemed unfit to raise their children because they did not do more to prevent the incest.