The unfathomable crime of Josef Fritzl has prompted experts to reveal that incestuous abuse is a regular occurrence in Austrian families.

Charlotte Aykler, the head of Violence Prevention Centre, an NGO dealing with victims of family violence that is also active in Amstteten, claims that incest and sexual abuse in Austrian families are widespread.

Mrs Aykler said: “Every sixth girl and every ninth boy has experienced sexual violence within their families. But it is always connected to much, much shame, and children are simply not speaking about it.” According to Mrs Aykler, the figures are based on the moderate estimates by experts dealing with the subject, but the real numbers could be drastically higher.

In Austria the number of cases involving “severe sexual abuse of minors” has risen to 296 in 2007 – an increase of 20 per cent compared with the previous year, while there were 313 cases of “sexual abuse of minors”. That is only the number of cases that have been reported to the police.

Ursula Puchebner, the deputy mayor of Amstetten, criticised the many witnesses, including neighbours and lodgers, who have come forward to speak of how they knew that Mr Fritzl was abusing his daughter before he locked her up in his cellar in 1984, when she was 19. She said: “They are now all in the public spotlight, but before [the case was revealed] no one seemed to notice anything unusual.”

Lydia Gouardo, 45, the French incest victim who was sexually abused by her stepfather and gave birth to six children, said that she would like to travel to Austria and meet Elisabeth Fritzl.

“I would like to meet her, and tell her my story and how I came to terms with it.” Mrs Guardo was raped and kept hostage by her stepfather from 1971 until his death in 1999.

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