Sexual assault

Sexual assault is the violation of a person’s bodily integrity through sexual conduct (TCK 102). The victim is an adult; cases in which the victim is a child are regulated separately as sexual abuse of children.

Penalty

• Basic form (TCK 102/1): on the victim’s complaint, 5–10 years’ imprisonment.
• Conduct limited to molestation (sarkıntılık): 2–5 years’ imprisonment.
• Committed by inserting an organ or other object into the body (TCK 102/2): imprisonment of not less than 12 years. If this act is committed against a spouse, investigation and prosecution depend on the victim’s complaint.

Penalty increased by one half (TCK 102/3)

• against a person who is physically or mentally unable to defend themselves,
• by abuse of influence derived from public office, guardianship or an employment relationship,
• against a relative by blood or marriage up to and including the third degree, or by a step-parent, step-sibling, adoptive parent or adopted child,
• with a weapon or jointly by more than one person,
• by taking advantage of settings where people are obliged to live together collectively.

Serious consequences

• If the force and violence used in the assault cause the serious consequences of intentional injury, the provisions on injury also apply.
• If the victim enters a vegetative state or dies, aggravated life imprisonment is imposed (TCK 102/5).

Prosecution

• For offences against sexual integrity, mediation is not available even where prosecution depends on a complaint (CMK 253/3).
• Sexual assault other than under the first paragraph is a catalogue offence for which grounds for pre-trial detention may be presumed (CMK 100/3).

In the data

Reports of sexual offences are provided in the institutional API at province and district level only; neighbourhood-level location is not shared (data access).