Number of Children Sent to Prison Increases by 109 Percent in 2017

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Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has shared statistics on prisons in Turkey for 2017. According to these figures, as of December 31, 2017, there were 232 thousand 340 people in prisons across Turkey. The unofficial data have shown that this number has currently exceeded 250 thousand people.

The number of people in prisons increased by 15.7 percent in 2017 in comparison with 2016. The capacity of prisons in Turkey is 211 thousand.

95.7 percent of people in prisons are men

According to the report of the TurkStat, as of 2017, 95.7 percent of people in prisons of Turkey are men and 4.3 percent of them are women. Accordingly, 9 thousand 990 women and 222 thousand 350 men have been behind bars.

While 65.9 percent of these people have been convicts, 34.1 percent of them have been arrestees. In other words, there have been 153 thousand 112 convicts and around 80 thousand arrestees in prisons in Turkey.

The data have shown that 288 out of every hundred thousand people in Turkey have been behind bars.

Number of children in prison: 2 thousand and 56

According to the report of the institute, the number of convicts, who were children (in the age group of 12-17) when they went into prison, increased by 109.4 percent in 2017 and become 2 thousand and 56 children.

As for the number of convicts, who were children when they committed the offense, it has also increased by 28.3 percent and become 11 thousand 805.

Attending the "Alternatives to Imprisonment" conference, which was organized by the Civil Society in the Penal System - Turkey's Center for Prison Studies (CISST/TCPS) on November 24-25, Judge Fatih Güngör from the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses stated that 3 thousand children have been currently behind bars in Turkey and 16 thousand children have been on probation. (OI/AS/SD)