Her toplum, yarınlarını güven içinde sürdürmek amacıyla sağlıklı ve güçlü çocuklar yetiştirmeyi amaçlar. Devletler, çocukların korunması, eğitimi, geliştirilmesi, yaşatılması ve katılım hakkı gibi konularda politikalar geliştirerek, bir bakıma kendi geleceklerini güvence altına almaya çalışırlar.

Dünyada, yapılacak her türlü girişimin çocuğun yararına uygun planlanması prensibinden hareketle, Birleşmiş Milletler tarafından 20 Kasım 1989 tarihinde Çocuk Haklarına Dair Sözleşme kabul edildi.

18 yaşından küçük bireyleri istismar ve şiddetten koruyacak yasal ve toplumsal önlemleri almak amacıyla kabul edilen sözleşme, ülkemiz tarafından 14 Ekim 1990’da imzalandı ve 1995 yılında yürürlüğe girdi.

Peki ülkemizin çocuk hakları karnesi ne durumda? Gelin çocuklarımızla ilgili gerçeklere bir göz atalım…

TÜİK, Adrese Dayalı Nüfus Kayıt Sistemi sonuçlarına göre; 2018 yıl sonu itibariyle Türkiye nüfusu, 82 milyon 3 bin 882 olarak belirlenmiş ve bunun 22 milyon 920 bin 422’sini çocuk nüfusun oluşturduğu açıklanmıştır. Türkiye, AB ülkeleriyle karşılaştırıldığında, çocuk ve genç nüfus oranlarının en yüksek olduğu ülke durumundadır.

UNICEF’in raporuna göre; böylesine büyük bir genç nüfusa sahip Türkiye’de çocuklar, toplumu dönüştüren demografik, ekonomik, siyasal ve küresel faktörlerin etkisiyle daha çok fırsata kavuşsalar da negatif yönde etkileniyorlar.

Bir başka istatistik, terk edilen çocuklara ait…Kanuni velisi tarafından korumasız ve yardıma muhtaç bir şekilde bırakılan çocuk sayısının 2017 yılında 261 olduğu görülüyor… 11 yaş ve altı terk edilen çocukların sayısı 365… Bu çocukların 150’si erkek, 111’i kız çocuğu.

In this rapid change and confusion, we are witnessing how the young mother left her 3-4-year-old children or the children fleeing from their homes or the missing children and children in need of protection were killed or raped. Although the news about children cause public indignation every time; the news of sexual abuse, loss and murder are not interrupted …

As the community we feel that we are shot from our weakest place. We are deeply in sorrow. The news about our children is as shocking as the news …

According to TUIK data, 11 thousand 563 children were lost in 2017 and the number of children lost in the last 10 years is 116 thousand. When the nine-year data is examined, we see that among the 104 thousand 531 children, who were filed as missing and who were found and brought to the security units, 59 thousand 435 were girls. According to research, the girls got lost between 2008-2016 mostly in Antalya. In this province, the number of missing girls brought to the security units by the police units or the citizens was 4 thousand 559. Antalya is followed by Izmir, Istanbul, Ankara and Adana.

Another statistic is about the abandoned children … The number of children left unprotected and in need of help by the legal guardian in 2017 is 261. The number of abandoned children aged 11 and under was 365 and 150 among them were boys and 111 were girls. The average 500 babies are left to the streets every year in Turkey. In the last 8 years, particularly in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Adana, 4 thousand babies throughout the country, so to speak, has been left to die.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data one out of every four children in Turkey is poor. The economic and social deprivation is with a percent of 69,5% the top reason of putting the children under care and protection. This is followed by reasons such as parents leaving the child with 33.4%, parents entering the prison with 21.2%, and sexual abuse or maltreatment of the child in and out of the family.

IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, 482 THOUSAND 908 GIRLS WERE MARRIED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 142 THOUSAND 298 CHILDREN HAVE BECOME “MOTHERS” IN THE LAST SIX YEARS. MOST OF THE CHILDREN WERE MARRIED BY RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE.”

The situation of children, which is one of the important indicators of the development of a society, unfortunately does not present a heartwarming appearance in our country.

Our children, who are the building blocks of healthy social life, face many dangers … They are left unprotected. This creates serious physical and mental damage to our children.

Take, for example, our abandoned children who are far from family integrity and protection …

When the mother or the father abandones and the child is who is abandoned, the pain of being abandoned is experienced more traumatically. It is known that the mother is a very important element in the personality development of children. It has been proven in scientific studies that maternal deprivation reveals a sense of inadequacy in personality development. Consequently, even though the physical conditions of the institutions are sufficient, the deprivation of mother emerges as a delay and pause in the personality development of the children under institutional care. It is observed that those who grow up deprived of their mother in infancy develop dependent personality structure in advanced age. Additionally, in these children, we can see the extreme intolerance of losing, being left alone and the tendency to typical chronic depression, which we call abandonment depression. In adolescence, serious identity confusion and personality pathology emerge.

Another bleeding wound of us is the child abuse… Unfortunately, the child abuse in Turkey has reached such during the last 10 years to horrifying dimensions – During this time, according to the Ministry of Justice data, the number of cases related to the issue, tripled.

Turkey, on the sexual exploitation of children was risen to the 3rd place in the world rankings. One of the six boys has been sexually abused. 70 percent of these children are from under 18 years old. 70 percent of children are under 11 years.

In Turkey it is difficult to achieve realistic data on the rights violations, the child abuse and murder. Because the abuse and violence are often hidden by the society. The cases come to light if they are reflected to the judicial authorities and the press.

The physical, psychological and social needs of the child, which must be supported in the family until they reach a certain maturity, are undertaken by the state institutions, especially in case of disruption of family integrity. The institution in Turkey that undertakes this duty on behalf of the state is the Ministry of Family and Social Policies General Directorate of Children’s Services (formerly Social Services and Child Protection Agency).

However, in order to solve the rights violations faced by children, the works of teh mentioned institution are not enough. Therefore, much more comprehensive studies should be done.

It is not possible to solve the problems related to the physical, mental, economic and spiritual protection of the child without providing the economic development of the societies, placing the social state understanding, increasing the national income per capita and increasing the education levels of the societies, especially the education levels of women and children.

However, it is a fact that what should be done should be done with a full scale work as soon as possible … There is not even a minute to spend …
Otherwise, we will destroy our future with our own hands.

Ülkede hızlı bir kentleşme yaşanıyor. İç göçler, belirsizlikleri beraberinde getiriyor. Ekonomik anlamda modernleşme ve liberalleşme devam ederken, geçim zorlaşıyor. Aile ve komşuluk bağları günden güne zayıflıyor. Ailedeki ilişkiler bozunuma uğruyor. Kişisel tüketim, toplumsal statünün ve öz saygının temeli haline gelmiş durumda. Eşitsizlikler artıyor. Değer yargıları sorgulanıyor, eski ve yeni uyumsuzlukla bir arada yaşamaya çalışıyor. Kuşaklar arası çatışmalar artmış. Yaşam kıyasıya rekabet içinde akıyor.Yeni sömürü biçimleri ortaya çıkıyor.

Son sürat yaşanan bu değişim ve karmaşanın içerisinde bizler, medyada genç annenin 3-4 yaşındaki çocuklarını nasıl bırakıp gittiğine yada evinden kaçan, kayıp ve korunmaya muhtaç çocukların nasıl öldürüldüğüne ya da tecavüze uğradığına şahit oluyoruz. Çocuklarla ilgili haberler her seferinde kamoyunda infial yaratsa da; cinsel istismar, kayıp ve cinayet haberlerinin ardı arkası kesilmiyor…

Toplumca en zayıf yerimizden vurulduğumuzu hissediyoruz. İçimiz kan ağlıyor.

Haberler kadar çocuklarımızla ilgili istatistikler de sarsıcı…

TÜİK’in verilerine göre 2017 yılında 11 bin 563 çocuk kaybolmuş. Son 10 yılda kaybolan çocuk sayısı ise 116 bin. Dokuz yıllık veriler incelendiğinde, hakkında kayıp başvurusu yapılan ve bulunarak güvenlik birimlerine getirilen 104 bin 531 çocuğun, 59 bin 435’ini kız çocuklarının oluşturduğunu görüyoruz. Araştırmalara göre, 2008-2016 yılları arasında kız çocukları en fazla Antalya’da kaybolmuş. Bu ilde emniyet birimleri veya vatandaşlar tarafından güvenlik birimlerine getirilen kayıp kız çocuğu sayısı 4 bin 559 . Antalya’yı İzmir, İstanbul, Ankara ve Adana takip ediyor.

Bir başka istatistik, terk edilen çocuklara ait…Kanuni velisi tarafından korumasız ve yardıma muhtaç bir şekilde bırakılan çocuk sayısının 2017 yılında 261 olduğu görülüyor… 11 yaş ve altı terk edilen çocukların sayısı 365… Bu çocukların 150’si erkek, 111’i kız çocuğu.

Türkiye’de her sene ortalama 500 bebek sokağa bırakılıyor. Son 8 yılda; İstanbul, İzmir, Ankara ve Adana başta olmak üzere ülke genelinde tam 4 bin bebek, deyim yerindeyse ölüme terk edilmiş durumda.

Ekonomik İşbirliği ve Kalkınma Örgütü verilerine göre Türkiye’de her 4 çocuktan biri yoksul. Çocukların bakım ve koruma altına alınma sepeblerinin en başında % 69,5 ile ekonomik ve sosyal yoksunluk geliyor. Bunu, % 33,4 ile ebeveynlerinin çocuğu terk etmesi, % 21,2 anne ya da babanın ceza evine girmesi, % 7,7 çocuğun aile içinde ve dışında cinsel istismara veya kötü muameleye uğraması gibi sebepler takip ediyor.

Bir toplumun gelişmişliğinin önemli göstergelerinden olan çocukların durumu, görüldüğü üzere ülkemizde ne yazık ki iç açıcı bir görünüm arz etmiyor.
Sağlıklı toplumsal hayatın yapı taşı olan çocuklarımız, pek çok tehlike ile karşı karşıya…Korumasız, öylece kalakalıyorlar. Bu da çocuklarımızda bedensel ve ruhsal açıdan ciddi hasarlar oluşturuyor.

Örneğin aile bütünlüğü ve korumasından uzak kalan, terk edilen çocuklarımızı ele alalım…

Terk eden anne veya baba, terk edilen de çocuk olduğunda, terk edilmenin verdiği acı travmatik bir şekilde, daha yoğun yaşanıyor. Çocukların kişilik gelişiminde annenin çok önemli bir unsur olduğu biliniyor. Anne yoksunluğunun, kişilik gelişiminde yetersizlik duygusunu ortaya çıkardığı bilimsel çalışmalarla kanıtlanmış. Dolayısıyla kurumların, fiziki şartları yeterli olsa da kurum bakımı altındaki çocuklarda, anne yoksunluğu kişilik gelişimlerinde gecikme ve duraklama olarak ortaya çıkıyor. Bebelikte anneden yoksun büyüyenlerin ileri yaşlarda bağımlı kişilik yapısı geliştirdikleri gözleniyor. Bunun yanı sıra, bu tür çocuklarımızda terk depresyonu dediğimiz, kaybetmeye, yalnız kalmaya aşırı tahammülsüzlük ve tipik kronik depresyonlara yatkınlık da görülebiliyor. Ergenlikte ise, ciddi kimlik karmaşası ve kişilik patolojisi ortaya çıkıyor.

Bir diğer kanayan yaramız da çocuk istismarları…Maalesef, Türkiye’de çocuk istismarı son 10 yılda dehşet veren boyutlara erişmiş. Bu süre zarfında, Adalet Bakanlığı’nın verilerine göre, konu ile ilgili dava sayısı, üç kat artmış.

Türkiye, çocuğa yönelik cinsel istismarda dünya sıralamasında 3’üncü sıraya “yükselmiş”. Her altı erkek çocuktan biri cinsel istismara maruz kalmış. Bu çocukların yüzde 70’i 18 yaş altındaki kesimden. 11 yaşından küçük çocuklar ise yüzde 70 oranında.

Son 10 yılda 482 bin 908 kız çocuğu devletin izniyle evlendirilmiş. 142 bin 298 çocuk son altı yılda “anne” olmuş. Çocukların büyük kısmı dini nikâh ile evlendirilmiş.

Türkiye’de hak ihlali, çocuk istismarı, ve cinayetlere ilişkin gerçekçi verilere ulaşmak zor. Çünkü genellikle istismar ve şiddet olayları toplum tarafından saklı tutuluyor. Vakalar, ancak adli makamlara ve basına yansımış ise gündeme geliyor.

Belirli bir olgunluğa erişinceye kadar aile içinde desteklenmesi gereken çocuğun fiziksel,psikolojik ve sosyal ihtiyaçları, özellikle aile bütünlüğünün bozulması halinde devletin kurumları tarafından üstleniliyor. Türkiye’de bunu devlet adına üstlenen kurum, Aile ve Sosyal Politikalar Bakanlığı Çocuk Hizmetleri Genel Müdürlüğü (eski adıyla Başbakanlık Sosyal Hizmetler ve Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu ).

Ancak, çocukların karşı karşıya kaldıkları hak ihlallerini çözmek adına sadece söz konusu kurumun çalışması yeterli değil. Bunun için çok daha geniş kapsamlı çalışmalar yapılmalı.

Çocuğun fiziksel, ruhsal, ekonomik ve manevi olarak korunması ile ilgili problemleri, toplumların iktisadi kalkınmalarını sağlamadan, sosyal devlet anlayışını yerleştirmeden, kişi başına düşen millî geliri arttırmadan, toplumların, öncelikle kadınların ve çocukların eğitim seviyelerini yükseltmeden çözmek mümkün değil.

Yalnız şu bir gerçek ki ne yapılacaksa bir an önce topyekun bir çalışma ile yapılmalı…Harcanacak bir dakika bile kalmadı artık…

Aksi taktirde geleceğimizi kendi ellerimizle yok edeceğiz.

Every society aims to raise healthy and strong children in order to sustain their future in safety. The states try to secure their own future by developing policies on the protection, education, development, survival and right of participation of children.

The United Nations accepted the Convention on the Rights of the Children on November 20, 1989, based on the principle that any initiative in the world should be planned for the benefit of the child.

The Convention, which was admitted in order to take legal and social measures to protect individuals under the age of 18 from abuse and violence, was signed by our country on October 14, 1990 and entered into force in 1995.

What about the report card of our country’s children’s rights? Let’s take a look at the facts about our children …

According to TUIK, Address Based Population Registration System results; it was explained that by the end of 2018 Turkey’s population was 82 million 3 thousand eight hundred eighty two and 22 million 920 thousand and 422 from it forms the child population. When Turkey is compared with EU countries, it is the country with the highest proportion of children and young population ratio.

According to the report of UNICEF, although the children in Turkey with such a large young population have more opportunities under the influence of the demographic, economic, political and global factors that are transforming the society they are affected in a negative direction. The country is experiencing rapid urbanization. The internal migration brings uncertainties with themselves. As economic modernization and liberalization continue, livelihood becomes more difficult. Family and neighborhood ties are weakening day by day. Relationships in the family are degrading. The personal consumption has become the basis of social status and self-esteem. The inequalities are increasing. Value judgments are questioned, the old and the young are trying to live together with incompatibility. The conflict among the generations are increased. The life is flowing in a keen competition. New forms of exploitation are emerging.

Another statistic is about the abandoned children … The number of children left unprotected and in need of help by the legal guardian in 2017 is 261. The number of abandoned children aged 11 and under was 365 and 150 among them were boys and 111 were girls. The average 500 babies are left to the streets every year in Turkey. In the last 8 years, particularly in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Adana, 4 thousand babies throughout the country, so to speak, has been left to die.

In this rapid change and confusion, we are witnessing how the young mother left her 3-4-year-old children or the children fleeing from their homes or the missing children and children in need of protection were killed or raped. Although the news about children cause public indignation every time; the news of sexual abuse, loss and murder are not interrupted …

As the community we feel that we are shot from our weakest place. We are deeply in sorrow. The news about our children is as shocking as the news …

According to TUIK data, 11 thousand 563 children were lost in 2017 and the number of children lost in the last 10 years is 116 thousand. When the nine-year data is examined, we see that among the 104 thousand 531 children, who were filed as missing and who were found and brought to the security units, 59 thousand 435 were girls. According to research, the girls got lost between 2008-2016 mostly in Antalya. In this province, the number of missing girls brought to the security units by the police units or the citizens was 4 thousand 559. Antalya is followed by Izmir, Istanbul, Ankara and Adana.

Another statistic is about the abandoned children … The number of children left unprotected and in need of help by the legal guardian in 2017 is 261. The number of abandoned children aged 11 and under was 365 and 150 among them were boys and 111 were girls. The average 500 babies are left to the streets every year in Turkey. In the last 8 years, particularly in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Adana, 4 thousand babies throughout the country, so to speak, has been left to die.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data one out of every four children in Turkey is poor. The economic and social deprivation is with a percent of 69,5% the top reason of putting the children under care and protection. This is followed by reasons such as parents leaving the child with 33.4%, parents entering the prison with 21.2%, and sexual abuse or maltreatment of the child in and out of the family.

IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, 482 THOUSAND 908 GIRLS WERE MARRIED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE GOVERNMENT. 142 THOUSAND 298 CHILDREN HAVE BECOME “MOTHERS” IN THE LAST SIX YEARS. MOST OF THE CHILDREN WERE MARRIED BY RELIGIOUS MARRIAGE.”

The situation of children, which is one of the important indicators of the development of a society, unfortunately does not present a heartwarming appearance in our country.

Our children, who are the building blocks of healthy social life, face many dangers … They are left unprotected. This creates serious physical and mental damage to our children.

Take, for example, our abandoned children who are far from family integrity and protection …

When the mother or the father abandones and the child is who is abandoned, the pain of being abandoned is experienced more traumatically. It is known that the mother is a very important element in the personality development of children. It has been proven in scientific studies that maternal deprivation reveals a sense of inadequacy in personality development. Consequently, even though the physical conditions of the institutions are sufficient, the deprivation of mother emerges as a delay and pause in the personality development of the children under institutional care. It is observed that those who grow up deprived of their mother in infancy develop dependent personality structure in advanced age. Additionally, in these children, we can see the extreme intolerance of losing, being left alone and the tendency to typical chronic depression, which we call abandonment depression. In adolescence, serious identity confusion and personality pathology emerge.

Another bleeding wound of us is the child abuse… Unfortunately, the child abuse in Turkey has reached such during the last 10 years to horrifying dimensions – During this time, according to the Ministry of Justice data, the number of cases related to the issue, tripled.

Turkey, on the sexual exploitation of children was risen to the 3rd place in the world rankings. One of the six boys has been sexually abused. 70 percent of these children are from under 18 years old. 70 percent of children are under 11 years.

In Turkey it is difficult to achieve realistic data on the rights violations, the child abuse and murder. Because the abuse and violence are often hidden by the society. The cases come to light if they are reflected to the judicial authorities and the press.

The physical, psychological and social needs of the child, which must be supported in the family until they reach a certain maturity, are undertaken by the state institutions, especially in case of disruption of family integrity. The institution in Turkey that undertakes this duty on behalf of the state is the Ministry of Family and Social Policies General Directorate of Children’s Services (formerly Social Services and Child Protection Agency).

However, in order to solve the rights violations faced by children, the works of teh mentioned institution are not enough. Therefore, much more comprehensive studies should be done.

It is not possible to solve the problems related to the physical, mental, economic and spiritual protection of the child without providing the economic development of the societies, placing the social state understanding, increasing the national income per capita and increasing the education levels of the societies, especially the education levels of women and children.

However, it is a fact that what should be done should be done with a full scale work as soon as possible … There is not even a minute to spend …
Otherwise, we will destroy our future with our own hands.