Handan Tufan/JINHA

IZMIR – The Izmir 12^thHeavy Criminal Court has ruled that there is "no evidence" in the child sexual abuse case of Ö.K., who was sexually abused by multiple family members as a child.

With the debate about sexual assault in Turkey now on the agenda after the rape and murder of ÖzgecanAslan,Ö.K.'s lawyer ŞenayTavuz says the case demonstrates the waysTurkey's legal system makes it difficult or impossible for women to report sexual violence.

At age 12, after Ö.K.'s parents separated, her father, older brother and uncle sexually .When she fled to her mother's house to escape the abuse, her mother married her off to an older man for money at the age of 14. Ö.K. escaped the marriage and moved to Izmirto work in a private company to get by. There, she was sexually harassed and left her job.

When Ö.K. sought help at a woman's center, she was placed in a shelter and began seeing a psychologist, who diagnosed her with severe trauma. Ö.K. decided to try her father, older brother and uncle in a court of law to seek justice for the 12 years of her life she had lost.

There, in a case that dragged on for two years,Ö.K. was forced to relive her trauma as the judge asked her extremely detailed questions about the abuse while her abusers sat in court—the first time she had seen them since she was abused.

The judge's patronizing questions about why Ö.K. would be quiet about her abuse for so long demonstrated the total disregard for the trauma and shame that accompany surviving child sexual abuse, said Şenay. The shame accompanying abuse, especially incest, means that there is rarely the direct evidence of abuse that the courts demand.

"Of course, after 12 years, we can't have concrete evidence. There are no marks on her body," says Şenay.Şenay explained the long and arduous process required to admit even the psychological report in court.

The judge finally ruled that there was "no evidence" of abuse and acquitted the suspects.

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