JINHA

ELAZIĞ – An investigation has revealed that employees of a state child rehabilitation center sexually abused and harassed girls under their charge, sometimes very violently, with the tacit consent of their supervisors.

The HarputCare and Social Rehabilitation Center Center, located in the city of Elazığ in Northern Kurdistan, is a Turkish state institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Four girls have testified that they experienced sexual harassment and violence in the facility between 2007 and 2013. Two of them attempted suicide and one of them was treated in a mental facility. She had been cutting herself to attempt to escape the situation.

So far,the six employees under investigation in the case have accepted that they had "emotional relationships" with the girls but have denied the accusations of sexual abuse and violence.

The director, also under investigation, has denied all knowledge. The assistant director has testified topersonally witnessing the abuse.

When the Center's psychologist began investigating the matter and heard from the girls, she communicated the situation to the Social Services Provincial Director. The Director, via a close associate, communicated threats against the psychologist.

The fact that the situation was not limited to Harput seems to indicate a widespread culture of abuse in state facilities for children in the region. The girls were transferred to nearby cities of Muş and Diyarbakır at one point, where a physical education teacher forced several girls between the ages of 11 and 12 into sexual relations. When the girls went to the vice chancellor there for help, he also sexually abused them.

(şg/fk/mg/cm)