What happened in the field of children's rights in Turkey between 2019 and 2025?
In the ninth meeting of the webinar series we organized within the scope of our project “Strengthening the Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy Capacities of CSOs Working in the Field of Children’s Rights” carried out in partnership with UNICEF Turkey, we pursued the answer to this question.
Based on field observations, data, and assessments from international human rights mechanisms, we looked at the current situation of children’s rights within the scope of data from the report entitled “The Status of Children’s Rights in the Context of Violence Against Children, Access to Justice, Exclusion, and Discrimination,” which we will share in the coming days.
The report, prepared with contributions from Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ulaş Karan, aims to make visible the main trends and structural problems in the field of children’s rights by compiling both the assessments of international human rights mechanisms regarding Turkey and national policy documents and official reports for the 2019–2025 period.
Children: the most invisible subjects during times of crisis
In the webinar, Ulaş Karan emphasized that recent years have been quite challenging for children’s rights. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, the earthquakes of February 6, regional conflicts, migration movements, and rising poverty have directly affected children’s lives and their access to rights.
According to Karan, while all these developments unfolded, children were most of the time not at the center of decision-making mechanisms and public policies. Under the shadow of major societal and political developments, the rights violations children faced became invisible, and policies aiming to protect children’s rights were left on the back burner.
Structural problems persist in violence against children and access to justice
One of the prominent topics in the webinar was violence and abuse against children.
Karan, who presented the report data, highlighted that the justice system does not operate in a sufficiently child-centered manner in situations where children are victims. He stated that the lack of effective protection mechanisms in cases of sexual abuse, ill-treatment, and domestic violence, the perception of impunity, and practices that do not focus on children’s needs are among the key problem areas.
Karan also noted that approaches focusing more on punishing children than rehabilitating them in the child justice system have been gaining traction, raising concerns for children’s rights.
Child labor and child marriage remain on the agenda
Another significant issue highlighted in the report was child labor. Karan remarked that child labor, which prevents access to the right to education and jeopardizes children’s health and safety, has become more visible in recent years. He stressed that the increasing news about children losing their lives in work accidents reveals the extent of the problem.
Pointing out that child, early, and forced marriages are also major rights violations, Karan stated that considering children not as individual rights holders but as parts of the family institution creates serious risks for children’s rights.
Discrimination and exclusion continue in various forms
The webinar also addressed, with examples, the forms of discrimination and exclusion children are exposed to.
Karan noted that the inequalities experienced by girls in accessing education have become especially pronounced at the secondary level and in certain regions. He stated that the weakening of the gender equality perspective in public policies has deepened this picture.
Reporting that children with disabilities, Roma children, refugee children, Alevi children, and LGBTI+ children continue to face discrimination in various ways, Karan said that problems in accessing the education system, exclusionary practices in educational settings, and barriers to equal access to rights are common experiences among these groups.
It was emphasized that for refugee children in particular, language barriers, poverty, the risk of child labor, and societal prejudice are significant obstacles.
The lack of access to data makes rights violations invisible
One of the noteworthy discussion points of the webinar was the lack of data.
Karan pointed out that the absence of disaggregated and regular data to reveal the scale of problems in the field of children’s rights makes it difficult to monitor rights violations and develop effective policies. He stated that comprehensive and comparable data on which groups of children face what kinds of problems is often inaccessible.
He stressed that this situation not only hinders policy making, but also makes it difficult to document, monitor, and make rights violations visible through legal means.
The role of civil society is more important than ever
One of the key messages highlighted in the webinar was that the monitoring, documentation, and advocacy efforts of CSOs working in the field of children’s rights are of critical importance. It was stated that civil society plays a significant role in making rights violations visible, producing reliable data, following up on the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms, and strengthening dialogue processes with policy makers.
In this context, it was noted that the report aims to provide a resource for advocacy work by CSOs working in the field of children’s rights.
What is needed to advance children’s rights?
Throughout the webinar, it was emphasized that problems in the field of children’s rights are largely structural rather than isolated incidents.
Karan drew attention to the importance of recognizing children as rights holders, combating discrimination, producing reliable, disaggregated data, and strengthening child protection mechanisms. Noting that children need to become more visible in decision-making processes, Karan stated that the monitoring, documentation, and advocacy activities of CSOs working in the field of children’s rights will become even more critical in the coming period.