TURKEYTURKEYA 2010 study examined the prevalence of various types of family violence in the childhoods of 988 college students through anonymous questionnaires. The types of violence included being kicked, punched, thrown, bruised, burned, or caused to bleed, lose teeth, or have broken bones. 53.3% of the students had experienced some of these types of violence in childhood (64% of males and 41.6% of females). The most common perpetrators were mothers and fathers, but siblings and other relatives also inflicted some violence. 22.6% of the victims of violence said that the perpetrator had behaved violently to establish discipline, 15.9% said that the perpetrator wanted to teach them a lesson and 16.1% that the perpetrator wanted to instill respect. 60.7% stated that the perpetrator was unable to control him or herself and 8.7% that the perpetrator was violent in order to release their anger. 35.4% reported feeling humiliated by the violence, 26.3% accepted it, and 10.4% felt hate for the perpetrator.
(Turla, A., Dündar, C., and Özkanli, C., 2010, “Prevalence of Childhood Physical Abuse in a Representative Sample of College Students in Samsun, Turkey”, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 1298–1308)
According to statistics from UNICEF relating to the period 2001-2007, of girls and women aged 15-49, 39% think that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under certain circumstances.
(UNICEF, 2009, Progress for Children: A report card on child protection, NY: UNICEF
www.childinfo.org/files/Progress_for_Children-No.8_EN.pdf)
A report on psychiatric facilities, orphanages and rehabilitation centres in Turkey found that in psychiatric institutions children as young as nine were subjected to electroconvulsive or ‘shock’ treatment (ECT), including as a punishment, without the use of muscle relaxants or anaesthesia – extremely painful, frightening and dangerous treatment. In rehabilitation centres and orphanages, children were restrained, sometimes permanantly, by being tied by their arms and legs or having plastic bottles taped over their hands. The report documents an incident of corporal punishment where a child was locked up, thrown across a room, tied up and hit.
(Ahern, L., Rosenthal, E., et al, 2005, Behind Closed Doors: Human Rights Abuses in the Psychiatric Facilities, Orphanages and Rehabilitation Centers of Turkey, Mental Disability Rights International)
Research involving 1,800 children and young people aged 10-18 years in Istanbul found that 23% reported experiencing physical punishment by their parents, and this was more common for children below the age of 14 years than for older children.
(Erkman, F., 2003, paper presented at the Society for Cross Cultural Research Conference, South Carolina, February 2003)