In recent years, some changes to the country’s rights laws have been made as Turkey inches along in its bid to join the European Union, but for many women who for various reasons end up in custody or behind bars, the situation is desperate. In the past 12 years, 74 women have been raped while in custody -- and with allegations that have not yet been proven, this number climbs to 309. In the past year alone 15 women have complained of sexual harassment while in custody. Out of the 309 women, 170 of these did not file any official complaints, letting the crimes go unpunished.
There have been positive developments in recent years regarding women targeted by sexual harassment, with sexual harassment gaining legal status as a crime, the range of the laws on rape being expanded and the sentencing deductions for “honor” killings and killings as part of tribal feuds abolished. But problems remain, and these issues were the subject of a report prepared by the Legal Bureau against Sexual Harassment and Rape in Custody on occasion of Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
According to the report, the transgressors in most instances are police officers, followed by members of the gendarmerie and military and prison guards. Of the 309 cases covered by the report, 74 percent were allegedly raped. Seven of the cases ended in death, via suicide, honor killings following rape in jail, and torture. Four women were forced into prostitution, eight miscarried as a result of torture, and nine women were tortured along with their children, aged between 3.5 and 10 years. Forty-one girls and young women, aged 10-18, were raped or sexually harassed.
