We share the headlines of our interview with Assistant Professor Neval Oğan Balkız (Vienna University) on the upcoming legislation and the child molestation in Turkey.
‘PERCEPTIONS OF GENDER MAINSTREAMING: ISLAMIC, MASCULIN AND ANTI-GENDER EQUALITY’
Balkız says that in Turkey, also by the influence of the conditions, in which we live due to its historical and sociocultural structure, it is a reality that the child molestation, sexual assaults towards children are systematically and intensely existent. Balkız states the following on the child abuses:
‘Sexual abuses are experienced systematically and gradually spreading in Turkey. Under the conditions in which we live, we observe that the perception and the construction of gender mainstreaming have gradually been being formed through an Islamic, masculine and anti-gender equality conception, the gender roles and accordingly the marriage age have been being minimized on the basis of a certain religious conception, that of Sunni Islam, and we observe that early marriages have been being legitimized. This process has been being imposed on the society through its traditional and religious dimensions.’
SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN: KEY ‘NUMBERS’
Balkız, drawing from different sources including governmental and other institutions such as the ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), gives the following statistics about sexual abuse and marriage of children:
2: The rank of Turkey among European countries in number of children marriages
20%: The percentage of brides under the age of 18 (in 2015)
46%: The children percentage of among total sexual abuses
650: The number of children sexually abused every month (in 2014)
36 thousand: The number of child brides
50 thousand: The number of child sex slaves
20 thousand: The number of lawsuits brought against child abuses (in 2013) 25 thousand in 2014
14 thousand: The number of lawsuits brought against child abuses ended up with conviction (in 2013) Slightly less than 14 thousand in 2014
13 thousand: The number of boys exposed to sex assaults (in 2015)
10 thousand: The number of girls exposed to sex assaults (in 2015)
Balkız states that those are registered incidents, which attract the public attention. However the real problem are those that remain veiled and never reach complaint mechanisms from student residences, orphan asylums, reform schools and juvenile detention centers. She mentions that the situation in those is not known, but we can imagine them. ‘We know that there is systematic sexual assaults in juvenile detention centers. We observe several suicide incidents in those.’ says Balkız.
‘NEW LEGISLATION IS A BIG THREAT’
Balkız says that the new proposition for the Turkish Penal Code brings along an important threat that leads to de facto reduction of age of marriage to 12. This translates that the children at this age are eligible for marriage and sexual activity. She underlines that all the crimes against children at this age will be unpunished.
‘RELIGION IS IMPOSED ON THE SOCIETY’
Balkız states that a government that has conservative, authoritarian, masculine, Islamist and fascist tendencies, rules Turkey and this mentality determines the comportment of legal authorities. She mentions that this structure imposes its religious, Islamic and masculine mentality and moral values and determines what is legal or legitimate. She underlines that the judicial system is under the influence of the government and this becomes the rule.
‘THE SOLUTION CANNOT BE CONFINED TO FIELD OF LAW’
Balkız says that the problem cannot be solely solved within the field of law and legislation is only a means to compensate and prevent these abuses. She mentions that the most important thing is to construct a society in which sexual abuses will not occur.
