In İstanbul on a daily basis, you see children who are neglected and abused, too. Your first reaction may be to try to help. This is a sign of compassion and shows that your heart is in the right place.
About five years ago, I found Ginger, now age seven-ish, standing by the side of a busy street. Ginger is my Cocker Spaniel, who has only 30 percent vision and was in poor health when I found her. Ginger had three owners before me and also lived on the streets of Nisantaşı for awhile. Though Ginger is very street-wise, she is now the most cuddly and loyal dog.
The other day when it was snowing, I saw a girl, probably not more than age seven, with no coat and a plastic bag over her head standing on the street corner of a major intersection, begging. I wondered what her childhood has been like and about the different forms of abuse she has experienced. Just think of those whom we never see or whose voice we never hear.
It is one thing to see a pup or dog that has been abused and is in need of a new home. But to see a child or teen is even worse. Your first reaction may be to whisk the pup off to a new life with you, but what can you do for the abused person? Every animal or human who has been abused suffers in a number of ways: Some have been neglected and subjected to all forms of cruelty and are lacking in social skills and having an identity crisis. The animal or person needs much love and acceptance.
Recently on my Facebook page, I was contacted by an author of a book entitled “Trust No One.” The British author, Teresa Cooper, now working on her second book, spends some months out of the year on Turkey's sunny coast and the rest of the year in England. Her book is about being raised in various care homes, and, at age 14, when one would not think life could get any worse, Teresa found that it did. Teresa was forcibly held and injected with dangerous drugs, and then the sexual abuse began. For a few years, she was tortured, drugged and raped. Teresa's story is a shocking yet inspiring story of a young girl abused in every way imaginable. She shares how she fought back against all odds to survive. Teresa has children and pets and is happy now.
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. RAINN reports that 44 percent of the victims are under the age of 18, and 80 percent are under the age of 30. RAINN's most shocking statistic about abuse in America is that 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police.
Statistics are hard to obtain, or not even available in many countries around the world. Although organizations in many countries are being more outspoken about the problem of abuse, much more clearly needs to be done. There are many websites about abused animals and abused humans that contain valuable information. For starting purposes, to learn more, you can visit these two websites: http://rainn.org/statistics and http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/facts/animal_cruelty_facts_statistics.html
In Turkey, it used to be, not so long ago, that you could not find any information about child sexual abuse. It is the elephant in the living room! Everyone knows it goes on, but few speak of it.
In 2008, Ercan Yavuz reported in Today's Zaman that, according to figures provided by the Turkish state Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK), 2,678 -- 18 percent -- of the 14,398 children living in SHÇEK homes at the time had been subjected to physical or sexual abuse by their parents.
In the Milliyet newspaper, Şükran Pakkan reported in an article some 250,000 children have been sexually abused in Turkey in the past decade and that 7,000 were raped in 2010 alone, based on the research of Tuncer Günay.
The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and the Turkish Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (TSPCAN) are becoming more active and vocal about this increasing problem of child sexual abuse. A conference called the XIX ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect is going to be held in İstanbul from Sept. 9-12, 2012. To read more about this conference, you can visit their website at http://www.childcentre.info/xix-ispcan-international-congress-on-child-abuse-and-neglect-istanbul-turkey-9th-12th-of-september-2012/
The theme of ISPCAN's upcoming congress is: "Every Child Matters: Promoting Local, National and International Partnerships for Protecting Children."
