Sarya Gözüoğlu / JINHA

AMED – Lawyer Gamze Yalçın says it is high time for Turkey to question its contradictory laws that permit sentence reductions on the basis of “consent” in cases of child sexual abuse.

According to Gamze, the legal system in Turkey is committed to forcing conservatism on society. She noted that it is particularly astonishing to see the perpetrators of sexual abuse receive sentence reductions for sexual abuse of children between the ages of 12 and 15, given that these children are at an age where they are not even aware of their own sexual identity. Judges have repeatedly ruled that children in this age group have “consented” to sexual abuse, including the case of a 13-year-old child who was raped by 20 people.

“We see that the courts don’t institute sentence reductions in cases of two children who have flirted, and they never take the ‘consent’ approach. Judges see these cases wholly as sexual abuse and rule based on that,” said Gamze. “But when young children are victims of sexual abuse, the same court behaves in the opposite way and provides the excuse that there is ‘consent.’” Gamze noted that such “consent” rulings took place at a particularly high rate in the cases of public employees.

While lawyers and NGOs would like to submit recommendations for legal changes to Turkey’s Parliament, said Gamze, the Parliament’s history of ignoring recommendations from civil society organizations was discouraging.

“The fact that most of the lawmakers are male causes the patriarchal mindset to be reflected in the law, and unfortunately because those implementing the law are men as well, we see these kinds of results,” said Gamze.

(zd/cm)