Justice for children
Every year, more than 500,000 children come into contact with the Turkish justice system – as victims or survivors, as witnesses, as alleged offenders, as an interested party, or because an intervention is needed for their care, protection or health.
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Every year, more than 500,000 children come into contact with the Turkish justice system – as victims or survivors, as witnesses, as alleged offenders, as an interested party, or because an intervention is needed for their care, protection, health or well-being.
Important steps forward have been taken, but there is still work to be done. Despite the reforms over the last decade, almost half of the child offenders on trial are still being tried before non-specialized courts and there are challenges in achieving child-sensitive approaches. Furthermore, thousands of children every year are being held in detention, which creates severe risks for them.
UNICEF, together with the MoJ and bar associations, is working to :
- ensure that child suspects and offenders, child victims of crime and child witnesses are treated in accordance with their age and rights
- help the MoJ establish child-friendly interview rooms and ways of ensuring that children are protected from the hardships of the judicial processes, including secondary victimization
- build the capacity of law enforcement bodies, bar associations, judiciary and justice professionals to ensure that children are better represented and protected
- prioritize approaches which will contribute to public safety and rehabilitation
- improve the quality and provision of non-custodial, community-based and restorative solutions, such as probation and diversion, and ensure that children are protected from detention.
