According to a report titled “Being a Child in Turkey” prepared by CHP Adıyaman Deputy Abdurrahman Tutdere, Turkey has the second highest child poverty rate among the 41 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with a rate of 22.4 percent. The report reveals that there are 720 thousand working children in the 5-17 age group, and in the past decade, at least 616 child workers have died while working, with 300 of them being under the age of 15 and forced to work due to poverty.
The number of children whose families cannot provide for them due to economic reasons has increased from 12,075 in 2002 to 146,000 as of August 2022. It is estimated that at least 195 children in Turkey are subjected to sexual abuse and attacks every day. The number of children involved in crime, which had been declining since 2014, increased from 209,689 in 2020 to 228,895 last year. Drug cases have also seen an increase, with 144,819 cases reported in 2018, compared to 118,482 cases in 2017, indicating a 22.23 percent increase. In 2019, out of 148,821 cases of substance use, 35.4 percent of those who used substances at least once were between the ages of 15-24. The number of outpatient treatment applications to treatment centers has been increasing annually.
The report highlights the alarming situation faced by children in Turkey, emphasizing that they are not being properly taken care of. It states that poverty begins from an early age and has detrimental effects on children’s health, contributing to an increase in the number of children involved in crime. Tutdere criticizes the economic management of the ruling AKP party, stating that the poverty line is 26,000 liras and the hunger line is 9,059 liras, and that the poverty system imposed by the AKP condemns citizens to suffer from inflation.
ESG Risks Deducted from the Article:
1. Child poverty
2. Exploitation of child labor
3. Increase in sexual abuse and attacks against children
4. Rise in children involved in crime
5. Drug abuse among children
Groups of Affected or Vulnerable People:
1. Children living in poverty
2. Working children
3. Children subjected to sexual abuse and attacks
4. Children involved in crime
5. Children struggling with drug abuse
Companies Mentioned and Their Roles in Regards to ESG Risk:
No companies are mentioned in the article.
Keywords: child poverty, working children, child labor, child mortality, sexual abuse, crime, drug abuse, poverty line, hunger line, economic management, AKP, inflation.
SOURCE