According to Prevention of Violence and Rehabilitation Organization's report containing striking data indicating the serious dimensions of child abuse, violence against children and child molestation cases have increased by 90 percent in the last four years in the world. The report also shows that an estimated 5 percent of the molesters are picked up by the authorities, while the 95 percent of child abuse cases that remain are glossed over. The situation is much worse when it comes to incest: Only 1 case of child abuse in 1000 can be unravelled.
One of every four rape cases submitted to the jurisdiction is related to children, the report said. According to the 2014 data of the Ministry of Justice, 650 child abuse cases are sent to the Institution of Forensic Medicine every month.
The report shows that the number of lawsuits brought against incidents of child abuse is 40.266, while the number of adjudicated cases is 24.825. Yet, the number of verdicts of conviction is only 13.968.
"Good conduct and respectful attitude abatement" for molesters still continues in such cases in Turkey. For instance, in one case of child abuse, the court adjudicated to give "good conduct and respectful attitude abatement" for a molester, who abused a child with 50% mental disabilities.
The report found that 66 percent of abusers were people familiar with the child, such as relatives or neighbors, while 9 percent of abusers live in the same house with the child.
In January 2018, it was revealed that 115 children under 18 years old taken to the Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul within the same five-month period had become pregnant. The hospital administration had tried to cover up the incidents of child abuse as it dismissed the officer who reported the sexual abuse to the prosecution office.
