Women Harassed and Raped In Detention

Study on sexual harassment and rape under detention shows several hundred victims of violence under custody in 9 years. At least 236 women sought legal support in the said period where 70 women were raped in detention and 166 others were sexually harassed

Ayça Örer

A recent study of violence against women by state security forces has shown that at least 70 women were raped while under detention between 1997 and 2006 while 166 others were sexually harassed.

The total number of women who have sought legal support and assistance in this period is 236.

A report issued by the Judicial Assistance Project for Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention said that only two of the 236 applications made for support came from Germany while the rest of the incidents were recorded in Turkey.

30 women who faced harassment and rape have so far left Turkey.

The project's lawyer Eren Keskin told bianet that harassment and rape were specifically employed as deterrent methods in east and southeast Turkey while kidnapping of women concentrated in the cities of Tatvan and Mardin.

Keskin acknowledged that women subject to this form of violence had "great difficulties" in applying for judicial aid and said that as most women faced such incidents at very young ages, there was a need for a new institution other than the coroner's office, which could deal with psychological reports.

The Project's report also covered the case of a 14-year-old girl who was killed on grounds of "honor" by relatives following being raped while under detention.

The report said women were being kidnapped by security forces and subjected to violence. 11 victims of kidnap were raped, it said, while 8 pregnant women had miscarriages due to torture. The number of women who were tortured with their children aged 3 to 10 was listed as seven.

According to the report, most of the victims are aged over 18. 38 victims were reportedly aged 10 to 18 while 198 of the victims were aged between 18 and 67.

The police, said the report, were at top of the list of those committing the offences. In 184 incidents it was the police responsible for the violence while 55 showed the gendarme and soldiers as responsible. Para-military Village Guards were responsible for 13 incidents.

An ethnicity detail of the report showed that 187 of the complainants were Kurdish women. Of the women harassed and raped, 206 said they were detained for "political reasons".

The report said 30 women had made applications based on judicial reasons, 8 for rape and 22 for sexual harassment. It added that 91 court cases were underway in relation to rape and harassment under detention while 14 cases had already been concluded by the European Court of Human Rights. (AO/KO/II/YE/EU)

Ayça Örer