19 July 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Recent data from the Ministry of Justice show that the number of female offenders incarcerated in Turkey has increased to 4,084 in 2010, compared to 3,147 in 2007, news reports revealed on Saturday.
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, who answered a parliamentary question from Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Sebahat Tuncel with a written statement, provided information on the recent situation of women in prison. Ergin explained that there are five jails for women in Turkey: in Ankara, İstanbul’s Bakırköy district, Adana’s Karataş district, Eskişehir’s Çifteler district and Denizli. Noting that there are also childcare centers near the jails for the children of incarcerated female offenders, Ergin stated that there are 294 children between the ages of 0-2, 136 children between 3-4 and 49 children between the ages of 5-6 in the childcare centers. Ergin pointed out that 938 women are in prison for manslaughter, 739 for drugs, 625 for burglary, 200 for prostitution, 137 for fraud, 122 for forgery and the remaining women for various other reasons, underlining that the most common crime committed by incarcerated women is manslaughter.
