The Network for Combating the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children was established in 2008 under the leadership of 8 NGOs, and in the process, nearly 50 members operated within the scope of the same goal with the participation of associations, foundations, professional chambers, bar associations, universities and civil initiatives.
In 2019, the Association for the End of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, whose short name is ECPAT, was established and became a legal entity.After the founding of the association, ECPAT Turkey İzmir Branch was also opened. Lawyer Sahin Antakyalıoglu is the General President and Network Coordinator of the Association.
Contact:
Sahin Antakyalıoglu (ECPAT Turkey Association President, Network Coordinator)
Burcu Kucuk Bicer (ECPAT Turkey International Relations Officer)
Mehtap Tamer (Head of Izmir Branch)
Contact: Burcu Kucuk Bicer
Address: Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine
Ankara, Turkey
Email: ecpatturkiye@gmail.com
Website: http://www.ecpattr.org/
Child protection initiatives in Turkey have increased rapidly (since 2005) due to Turkish efforts to join the European Union. On 20 December 2013, Turkey signed Protocol 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which aims to increase interaction between the European Court of Human Rights and local courts.
The Government of Turkey has increased its campaign focused on the prevention of honour killings. Social pressure in some areas of Turkish society may lead to child brides staying silent about abuse due to fear of honour killings.
The Syrian refugee crisis has reportedly had a large impact on the child marriage rate in Turkey.
Year: 2020
Year: 2020
Year: 2020
Year: 2020
Year: 2015
Partial
The age of majority is 18, which is understood as the age of sexual consent as well. However, the Penal Code defines “sexual molestation” of children as any sexual behaviour towards a child under the age of 15 and any sexual behaviour towards a child above 15 through threat, coercion, force or any other factor affecting their decision-making capacity. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exemption.
ECO Turkey, 2020
Partial
Active extraterritoriality is provided for offences punishable by at least one year of imprisonment as long as the offender is in Turkish territory. For crimes punished with less than a year of imprisonment a complain must have been filed by the victim of a foreign government within 6 months for active extraterritoriality to apply. Passive extraterritoriality requires a complaint to be lodged by the victim first. Universal jurisdiction is provided for child trafficking and exploitation of children in prostitution but not for all SEC-related offences.
Extradition requires double criminality and Turkish nationals cannot be extradited. There is no specific provision on extradition for SEC-related offences.
ECO Turkey, 2020
No
The national legislation does not provide a specific definition of CSAM.
ECO Turkey, Jul-20
Not Yet Assessed
Partial
Turkey has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.
Turkey has also ratified the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
Turkey has not ratified the OPIC and the UNTWO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics.
ECO Turkey, 2020
Not Yet Assessed
Not Yet Assessed
Not Yet Assessed
No
There is publicly available case data for some SEC-related offences, namely trafficking offences, sexual abuse of children and sexual intercourse with a minor and some statistics on child, early and forced marriage. However, no information was found on whether this data is clearly disaggregated, made available periodically and whether it contains data on offenders and on compensation sought by child victims.
ECO Turkey, 2020
