This morning I read the appalling news about the sexual abuse of 7 underage girls by numerous boys and men in Siirt (news in Turkish and in English).  I felt a mix of emotions -sadness, anger, frustration- like I guess many who read it felt.  I remember feeling very similarly upon reading the unfortunate events involving a 7 year old girl in Trenton, NJ (news in English).  The two stories share two elements: the girls who were abused and raped are very young, practically children, and the offenses were “communal” events.

Although I am very sad for the young girls who were the victims of this violence, I will just say that I hope they get the help they need to move on.  I want to discuss the sociopolitical aspect of this event.  Let me first note how ironic it is that the Turkish news surfaced the same day a constitutional amendment (to Article 41) passed in the parliament.  The amended article says “Each child has the right to be protected and cared for and to establish and continue personal and direct relationship with his/her mother and father unless it is clearly agains his/her benefit/well being.  The state takes all necessary precautions against all kinds of abuse in order to protect/guard the children.”  I put the last sentence in italics, read it again.  We’ll come back to this.

The reaction when we read such appalling news is probably: “How could they!  We are humans, not animals!” etc.  We, as individuals, have certain principles and moral codes.  When we hear about such events, we imagine whether we could do such a thing ourselves, and of course decide that we never could.  There is right and wrong, for some there is heaven and hell.  But then, there’s a lot of evil in the world.  I don’t want to diminish the monstrosity of what these girls experienced or of how the whole episode of abuse unfolded over 2 years, but they are not the only young girls who were abused.  Girls their age experience these all over Turkey and everywhere including Trenton, NJ.  Almost everybody says to themselves “Oh, no, I could never do such a thing!” yet a lot of people turn evil and victimize these children.  In some cases like Siirt and Trenton, the “evil” is not a single person but a group of people.  A group victimizes the children, and nobody stops what’s happening -to the contrary- the “evil” becomes a social product.

You probably have heard about Hannah Ardent’s “banality of evil” argument, as well as the results of Milgrom and Zimbardo’s psychological experiments.  These are attempts to explain how evils (like the Holocaust) come to be accepted by large numbers of people, how evil becomes “normal.”  You may also have heard or read that the “banality of evil” argument has been criticized and reevaluated by further psychology studies (and historical examination of the Eichmann case Ardent wrote about).  I find it amazing how seemingly normal people turn “evil” and justify the various types of violence they conduct.  I tend to think that human beings are rational, even when they answer the seductions of the dark side.  Evil becomes banal because the people choose to accept it.  Of course social pressures, political machinery, ideology, authority etc. may be factors in people’s choice, but it is their choice in the end.  We are not drawn to or pushed towards evil by some outside force, we walk towards it and what we think it promises.

In the Siirt story, when 5 girls complained to the school counselor about the abuse of a vice-principal, the counselor started the official procedures which unearthed the large scale abuse of 7 girls by many men, including their male classmates.  According to the newspaper reporter, these abuses were almost “common knowledge” among some in the town.  After the initial abuse of one girl, as the word spread, more men from all ages and walks of life started to abuse the girl.  As her sister (who eventually complained) came to age, these men saw her as a target as well.  Why didn’t anybody say something or try to stop it?

I guess the answer lies in the comments of the school-boys.  The reporter says that they start singing a suggestive song “Ellere var da bize yok mu?” (Yes to others and none to us?).  Boys and men in this town were hoping to get their turn in the abuse!  I think it is the “culture of honor” in Turkey that created this social response.  Men who could kill their sisters for “seeing a boy” lining up to rape victims of previous rapes sound so contradictory at first.  However, they both have the same source: keeping the male pride alive, keeping the reputation as a male untarnished, which are the prerequisites to keep your status in the male dominated society.  These social dynamics require that it is the man’s job to make sure his sister, daughter and wife are “modest” women and also that he shows his masculinity when he can (think: machismo).

Just think of a man in that social setting.  He hears about these girls who  have become preys and his friends are telling (probably grossly exaggerated) stories of how they had intercourse with them.  If he goes and reports these men to the authorities, he will be a rat and social repercussions will be quite bad.  If he says something disapproving, the response will be “Oh, sissy man!”  If he refuses the “opportunity” to repeat others’ offense and taking his turn, his masculinity and sexual prowess will be doubted.  This man may be a good man inside, morally he may know very well that abusing this young girl is wrong, but it is in his best interest to keep silent and repeat the offense because it is a chance to prove masculinity, the currency for social standing.  I am sure the girls were “de-humanized” within the male-talk concerning them.  They were probably not treated as “women of our community of whose modesty we are responsible for” but “objects to be taken advantage of”.  Note that this male dominated, male-pride centered culture is universal.  You can see it in Siirt or in Trenton, NJ.

Ultimately, I hold individual choices made within social constraints responsible for the “evil” in question.  However, there’s one other component in this story.  The political authority.  Besides being immoral or sinful, rape and underage sex are illegal.  The moral compass or the religious convictions of these men did not stop them from victimizing the girls, that can be blamed on their individual faults maybe.  Why could the threat of legal punishment not stop them?  Some of the offenders were employees of the state (a policeman, a member of the military, the school vice-principal).  So, the state whose constitution was amended to charge it with taking all necessary precautions to prevent abuse and to protect children failed big time.  Why would the shopkeepers and students stop when they knew even the agents of the state were doing the offense?  Where would the girls go knowing that their vice-principle was among the main offenders?  It is almost a miracle that the counselor took some action, reported this to the other vice-principle and then to the higher authorities.  What if the counselor feared the repercussions from the offending vice-principal and kept silent?  Unfortunately, in some cases, when the victims get the courage to complain to some agent of the state, they get inaction or worse.  Why would the men be concerned about the state or the law when they know it’s on their side?

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve seen me complaining about the patriarchal tendencies of the state in Turkey.  Yeah, maybe the patriarchy in the laws and practices of the state do not mean much when they force me to report my marriage and take my husband’s last name.  It doesn’t hurt me much to pay a fine or carry the last name of the man I lovingly married.  But the same patriarchy has more dire consequences for other women all over the country.   Women who are not as lucky as I am are victimized when the state’s patriarchy and the patriarchy in the society join forces.  My objections and complaints are not only against the way the state sees me, but against the way it sees women in general.  I can compensate for my “female deficiency” in other ways (education, socioeconomic status etc.) and protect myself, but apparently the 2 daughters of the poor porter in Siirt could not and were victimized.

The court decided to prevent further reporting on this case, probably because it is a controversial case which is currently heard in court.  I just hope the offenders eventually get enough punishment to deter repetition of such events and to encourage victims to speak up.  I hope we all remember how we felt when we read the news report today and not forget this incident like we forgot about the numerous scandalous cases that surfaced before.  I hope the institutions and agents of the state live up to at least what the constitution promises children.