Official figures show increase in criminal incidents involving children in 2022

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The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has revealed that the number of incidents involving children taken to security units amounted to 601,754 in 2022. This represents an increase of 20.5% from the previous year.

Of these incidents, 259,106 children were recorded as victims, 206,853 were involved due to being accused of involvement in delinquency, 100,490 were taken into custody for questioning, 16,499 were reported missing, 12,684 were accused of committing minor offenses, and 6,122 were brought or taken to security units for reasons other than those mentioned above.

Of the incidents involving children brought to or taken to security units, 206,853 were due to being involved in delinquency. Of these children, 37.8% were charged with assault, 25.2% with theft, 4.5% with drug-related offenses, 4.2% with violating passport laws, and 4.1% with charges of threats.

Out of the 259,106 children brought to security units as victims, 89.8% were classified as crime victims, and 10.1% were categorized as victims involved in ongoing investigations.

Of the children taken to security units as crime victims (232,739 in total), 58.5% were victims of assault, 13.7% were involved in sexual offenses, 8.7% were victims of crimes against family order, 4.8% were victims of threats, and 14.3% fell into other categories of victimization. (AÖ/VK)