Comprehensive legal definition of incest vital: report
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Radikal
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 27, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Research conducted on "understanding the problem of incest in Turkey" suggests mothers play an important role in exposing incidents of incest and highlights the need to develop a comprehensive legal definition of the crime.
The research, conducted by the United Nations Population Fund and the Demography Association, was prepared based on interviews conducted over a year and a half with 98 experts from various professions, including teachers, lawyers, police officers, psychologists and medical workers in Adana, Ankara, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Istanbul and Kocaeli.
Research consultant Alanur Çavlin Bozbeyoğlu announced the results of the research Tuesday, emphasizing that mothers have a critical role to play in exposing exploitation within the family and that defining incest as a criminal element in law would increase "awareness" of the problem.
"Incest is a concealed subject in Turkey, as it is in the world," Bozbeyoğlu said, adding that the experts they interviewed identified fathers and grandfathers - followed by other male relatives such as brothers and uncles - as the most likely offenders.
The research uncovered examples of offenders from all age and socioeconomic groups abusing and raping boys and girls of all ages.
Bozbeyoğlu said a child almost without fail exposes an act of incest either through his or her speech or other actions. "The child’s success at school may falter and most wet themselves," Bozbeyoğlu said. "The child could be at an age so young as not to know and express the wrongness of what he or she has experienced. Abuse and rape starting at an early age may cause the child to develop a sense that this is a normal relationship." The researcher also noted that offenders sometimes threaten the victims with harming their close relatives, especially their mothers and siblings, if they tell anyone what is going on. Since mothers play such a key role exposing incidents of incest, Bozbeyoğlu said parents must be more informed about the problem. "The judicial process for incest is pretty complicated," she said. "The Turkish Penal Code does not define incest separately. The punishment for incest is increased considering the degree of closeness of the offender. Defining incest in the law would increase awareness about it."
Research consultant Alanur Çavlin Bozbeyoğlu announced the results of the research Tuesday, emphasizing that mothers have a critical role to play in exposing exploitation within the family and that defining incest as a criminal element in law would increase "awareness" of the problem.
"Incest is a concealed subject in Turkey, as it is in the world," Bozbeyoğlu said, adding that the experts they interviewed identified fathers and grandfathers - followed by other male relatives such as brothers and uncles - as the most likely offenders.
The research uncovered examples of offenders from all age and socioeconomic groups abusing and raping boys and girls of all ages.
Bozbeyoğlu said a child almost without fail exposes an act of incest either through his or her speech or other actions. "The child’s success at school may falter and most wet themselves," Bozbeyoğlu said. "The child could be at an age so young as not to know and express the wrongness of what he or she has experienced. Abuse and rape starting at an early age may cause the child to develop a sense that this is a normal relationship." The researcher also noted that offenders sometimes threaten the victims with harming their close relatives, especially their mothers and siblings, if they tell anyone what is going on. Since mothers play such a key role exposing incidents of incest, Bozbeyoğlu said parents must be more informed about the problem. "The judicial process for incest is pretty complicated," she said. "The Turkish Penal Code does not define incest separately. The punishment for incest is increased considering the degree of closeness of the offender. Defining incest in the law would increase awareness about it."