The Association for Children and Women First issues statement against bill targeting 'children dragged into crime': 'It is the children who must be protected'
A legislative proposal concerning children dragged into crime has been submitted to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) by the AKP. According to the proposal, which consists of 18 articles and envisions changes to seven separate laws, children between the ages of 15 and 18 could face life imprisonment. The reduction rates for age-based mitigation currently recognized by existing laws will also be altered. The Association for Children and Women First has issued a statement regarding the bill in question.
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The press release issued by the association included the following statements:
Children are protected not by harsh sentences, but by strong social policies. We are following with concern the legislative proposal on the agenda of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which could lead to children dragged into crime facing harsher penalties and more severe enforcement regimes, in terms of children's rights. The purpose of the juvenile justice system is not to punish, but to protect, rehabilitate, and reintegrate the child into society.
A child dragged into crime is, more often than not, a victim of neglect, poverty, violence, abuse, and inequality before they are a perpetrator of a crime. There is no scientific data suggesting that harsher penalties reduce juvenile delinquency. On the contrary, isolating children from education, family, and social support mechanisms increases the risk of them being dragged into crime again.
As the Association for Children and Women First, we advocate for a state approach that protects children rather than punishing them. The way to protect children is not by expanding prisons, but by eliminating poverty, reducing economic inequalities, and ensuring every child has equal access to quality, scientific, and secular education,
guaranteeing their rights, preventing child labor, strengthening social services, and building a public child
protection system where children are not left to the influence of sects and religious communities.
True security for children can be achieved not through harsh penalties, but through rights-based social policies. The duty of the state is not to punish children more severely after they have committed a crime,
but to create conditions where no child is dragged into crime.
Because it is the children who must be protected; what must be changed are the policies that fail to protect them. Respectfully announced to the public.
ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN AND WOMEN FIRST