Bianet - "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
ISTANBUL / 2 Novembe 2006 / by Ayca Orer
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.
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