TURKEY, — The Kurdish children who had been arrested for taking part in political demonstrations are subjected to sexual abuse in Pozanti prison.
These children who are arrested for political reasons have been accommodated with the criminals in the criminal ward of Pozanti prison. They have been sexually abused and beaten by the criminals with whom they are held together.
A child 15 year-old child identified as H.K says, “Some of our friends were molested many times. They beat us and forced us to undress. What we have been through cannot be put into words.”
The children were also subjected to racist and violent behaviour. “The ordinary criminals strangled our necks with ropes and forced us to kiss the Turkish flag. They called us terrorists and beat us very badly” a 17 year-old boy identified as A said adding, “He has still not overcome the trauma of what he has been through”.
Another ex-prisoner, A.K. (17), confirms the sexual abuse claims and notes that the prison administration was indifferent to their complaints.
Practioner Physician Didem Gediz Gelegen Türkmen from the Akdeniz Municipality Women’s Advice Centre says that she met many children who have been sexually abused in prisons. “They have difficulty in expressing themselves. They do not trust people and life. They are badly damaged by what they have been through and cannot even share their pain with their families. Instead of building police stations in neighbourhoods, the state should improve traumatic places like prisons,” says Gelegen noting that it is the state’s responsibility to ensure the children’s safety and wellbeing in prisons.