The article deals with religious and cultural factors’ implications for penal liability, starting from a comparison between traditional models of political approach: the French and the English. The author draws on the normative and jurisprudential comparison between intrafamily sexual offences in certain European legal systems, with references to Islamic law, by showing homogeneity of solutions in particular between the Italian and the German systems, both in the choices of criminal policy and in application procedures. In the conclusion, a reasonable balance is aimed for, on the one hand, by avoiding legislative interventions which badly conceal sentences connected to the religious factor only, on the other hand, by preventing too indulgent interpretations towards those who may be influenced by a religious heritage. Rather, a favourable treatment is considered exclusively for those who are subjected to a deep and indelible cultural ‘fracture’.