Johanna Westeson - The ICHRP

do not show signs of resistance; [and] penalise sexual penetration of any nature whatsoever
or by any means whatsoever of a non-consenting person.
5. Domestic legislation and case law
Progressive legal reform and abolishing sexual crimes as crimes against morals
In several European countries, recent criminal law reforms have abolished references to
morals and family honor in provisions against sexual violence. One example is Turkey.
The Turkish Penal Code was reformed in 2004 and introduced major changes in its laws on
sexual crimes. These changes included removal of patriarchal concepts, different
classification and more progressive definitions of sexual crimes, and longer sentences for
sexual crimes.
For example, while sexual crimes were earlier classified as "crimes against society/crimes
against public morality and family," indicating familial and societal ownership over
women’s bodies and sexualities, they are now considered under the category "crimes
against sexual inviolability." All references to concepts such as ‘morality,’ ‘chastity,’
‘decency,’ ‘honor,’ ‘shame,’ and ‘public customs’ have been eliminated. Earlier, crimes of
rape and sexual abuse were defined as "forced seizure of chastity and attack on honor;" the
perpetrator of rape or abduction could avoid punishment by marrying the victim; and
killing by the mother of an infant born out of wedlock received a reduced sentence, with
the pretext that this crime was committed in order to cleanse the woman's honor. 532 All
such references have been removed.
The new code defines sexual assault as “violat[ing] the physical integrity of another
person, by means of sexual conduct,” and is gender neutral (Art. 102). 533 The marital rape
exemption has been abolished. Sexual abuse or assault of children can no longer occur
with the consent of the child (Art. 103) and sexual harassment in the workplace has been
included as a crime (Art. 105). The code also provides for aggravated sentences for socalled
honor crimes. 534
As discussed in other chapters of this report, women’s and human rights groups have
criticized certain provisions in the new code for not fully embracing sexual and bodily
rights of women and others. For example, critical voices have underlined that honor crimes
have been framed narrowly, that the new Penal Code falls short of criminalizing all cases
of non-consensual genital examinations of women, that discrimination based on sexual
orientation has not been included as a crime, and that consensual sexual relations between
15 and 18 still are unlawful. 535
532 See Pinar Ilkkaracan and Liz Ercevik Amado,“Good Practices in Legislation on Violence against Women
in Turkey and Problems of Implementation,” Expert Paper prepared for Expert group meeting organized by
UNDAW and UNODC, May 2008, available at
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_legislation_2008/expertpapers/EGMGPLVAW%20Paper%2
0_Pinar%20Ilkkaracan%20and%20Liz%20Ercevik%20Amado_.pdf, and information from Women for
Women’s Human Rights – New Ways, at http://www.wwhr.org/penalcode_reform.php. Both sites last visited
on 10 March 2010.
533 Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 5237, passed on 26 September 2004. Published but unofficial translation
available, see footnote 268.
534 See for a more detailed discussion of this Chapter 5E: Honor crimes.
535 See, for example, Pinar Ilkkaracan and Liz Ercevik Amado (2008), supra note 532, and information from
Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways, supra note 532. For more detailed discussion of these
aspects of Turkish criminal law, see Chapters 5E: Honor crimes, 2F: Virginity testing, and 2C: Age of
consent.
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