Mor Çatı issued a press release about the new draft law on sex crimes. The press release stated that “Sex crimes such as rape, harassment etc. are very commonly committed by men against women and children. In Turkey, 4 out of 10 women are exposed to male violence, including sexual violence and 1 out of 5 children are exposed to sexual abuse.”
Mor Çatı issued a press release about the new draft law on sex crimes. The press release stated that “Sex crimes such as rape, harassment etc. are very commonly committed by men against women and children. In Turkey, 4 out of 10 women are exposed to male violence, including sexual violence and 1 out of 5 children are exposed to sexual abuse.”
The press release also stated that “This situtation cannot be explained with the fact that the men who commit violence are ill and the solution cannot be the treatment of the men who resort to sexual violence.”
The press release also contained the following statements:
Sexual violence is a particular form of male violence. The underlying cause of this situation is men’s hegemony in society and their need to tyrannize over the bodies of women and children. The majority of the rapists are the men who are relatives of the women and children. This point is missed out in the discussion of the new law draft concerning sex crimes. In fact, plenty of positive amendments such as increased sentences are not being debated but the provision proposing the “rapists to be treated by medication” is highlighted. Therefore, men are almost acquitted, sexual violence is reduced to a crime committed by a few ill men; while the “family”, which is sanctified by the conservatives, is left out of the criticisms one more time.
Undoubtedly, there are some psychiatric disorder such as paedophilia and those patients are –and should be- treated by medication at their own request. Nevertheless, sexual violence is a social problem that cannot be reduced to a disease. Its one and only treatment lies in destroying the dominence of men and eliminating the inequalities between women and men.