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A newly published medical study from the Marmara Region shows the scale of child sexual abuse as a serious criminal issue in Türkiye.
The report comes at a time when Parliament has been called to investigate sexual harassment against female interns.
The researchers examined one year of forensic medical cases and documented pregnancies among children between the ages of 2 and 12.
The study titled “Investigation of Forensic Medical Examination Findings in Children Victims of Sexual Abuse" was published in April 2025.
Researchers Omer Buber, Mehmet Saki Celik, Enes Sarıgedik, Enes Emre Ozturk and Mustafa Tolga Tunagur reviewed 121 cases at a child monitoring center in a hospital in the Marmara Region.
According to the report, 108 victims were girls and 13 were boys. Twenty six children were between the ages of 2 and 12.
The researchers described the pregnancy related findings as the most severe indicators of criminal abuse.
They confirmed 4 pregnancies and recorded 8 suspected pregnancies. One confirmed case and 2 suspected cases involved children in the 2 to 12 age group.
The study documented long delays in reporting abuse.
Key data from the report:
These delays appear in many cases of child sexual assault, where fear, coercion and lack of support prevent children from reporting criminal abuse.
Researchers found genital trauma in 32 of the 121 cases. The study states that “genital examination findings are important for identifying and proving sexual abuse cases.”
The report shows that 85 suspects were from outside the family, and 36 were relatives.
Cases involving family members included fathers, brothers, grandfathers, uncles and maternal uncles. This pattern shows that a significant share of criminal abuse took place within the family structure.
The researchers state that the findings point to urgent gaps in detecting and preventing sexual violence against children. They call attention to the need for stronger protection systems and faster reporting mechanisms.
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