“Child sexual abuse cases have skyrocketed during the AKP rule”

HDP Ağrı MP Bedran Öztürk stated that child sexual abuse cases have skyrocketed during the AKP rule, stressing that the AKP is pushing to redesign the woman and man identities according to their own ideological motives.

HDP Ağrı MP Bedran Öztürk pointed out that the child sexual abuse rates have skyrocketed during the AKP governments and that 650 new cases are filed with the Institute of Forensic Medicine according to the Ministry of Justice data. Öztürk added: “And that means that 21 children are abused every day in Turkey, which comes to almost one child per hour.”

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Ağrı MP Bedran Öztürk gave a speech outside the agenda in the General Assembly of the Turkish parliament regarding the increased child sexual abuse cases during the AKP government. Öztürk said the child sexual abuse cases are a bleeding wound for Turkey, and that the cases have increased several fold during the AKP rule. He continued: “According to concrete outcome of the studies, children between 7 and 14 are the most abused group. Child sexual abuse cases in the recent past are still fresh in our memories. The abuses and rapes that took place in Pozantı, the Ensar Foundation, Izmir, Gerger, Adana, Kemer and most recently in Ağrı and the constant increase in rape and abuse cases during AKP’s rule shows that the current situation has become systemic and widespread.”

Öztürk pointed out the increasing number of cases and said: “I don’t mean to blame the AKP, the data does it clearly already. According to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, there have been 2395 appeals made in 2012, 3002 in 2013 and 2449 in 2014 until October. In 2015, the number of cases filed have increased almost 700%. Again, when we look at the Ministry of Justice’s 2014 data, we see 650 cases of child sexual abuse referred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine every month. And that means, 21 children are abused every day in Turkey, which comes to almost one child per hour.”

Öztürk stated that the AKP government’s idea and construction of gender fall outside the neoliberal form, patriarchal and refuse the equality of sexes, and stressed that the AKP is pushing to redesign the woman and man identities according to their own ideological motives.

Öztürk stressed that sexual abuse crimes against children should be placed outside of ideological and political constructs and should be battled in a joint fashion, and that the parliament should take the issue on the agenda and deal with it.