Sexual assault cases increased over last 10 years in Turkey: Ministry

ANKARA

Sexual assault cases have increased over the last 10 years in Turkey, according to statistics released by the Justice Ministry, daily Birgün reported on May 18. 

The ministry’s General Directorate of Judicial Records, which have been released annually since 2006, include information from the investigation files received by chief public prosecutor’s offices, and show there has been a major increase in sexual assault cases. 

In 2006, the number of rulings regarding sexual abuse was 5,243, but this number rose to 13,347 in 2016.

 In 2006, some 3,778 rulings were issued over child sexual abuse, but this number drastically increased to 21,189 in 2016. Some 58.8 percent of suspects in the cases in which a ruling was issued were convicted in 2016. 

Overall, some 5.7 percent of the adult population have been subjected to investigations in Turkey. While the number of files was nearly 2.74 million in 2006, it rose to 7.4 million in 2016. The number of cases handled in criminal courts was 2.41 million.

In 2016 the average trial duration of legal cases was 274 days, while in 2006 it was 244 days. 
Some 3.67 million cases were handled by criminal courts in 2016 and 1.85 million cases continued into the following year. 

Statistics on crime types showed that a majority of the crimes were committed due to “economic reasons” over the past year. 

Some 23.7 percent of the offenses consisted of “crimes against assets,” 21.3 percent consisted of “crimes against physical integrity” and 15.9 percent of “crimes against liberty.” 

Similarly, charges regarding the “enforcement and bankruptcy law” ranked first in the list with 36.1 percent, followed by the “anti-smuggling law” with 17.6 percent and “firearms, knives and other tools law” with 13.1 percent.  

Statistics regarding juvenile crime show a nearly two-fold increase over the past 10 years. 

A majority of the juvenile crimes consisted of “offences against property,” of which 60.7 percent were robbery, 27.5 percent were harming property, 9.2 percent were looting and 2.6 percent were “other crimes.”