Criminal procedure against people who have been charged with prostitution offences on a fourteen years old child - Violation of Art. 3 and 8 ECHR

EUROPE: SEXUAL VIOLENCE

European Court of Human Rights, judgment, 9 February 2021, N.C. v. Turkey (application no. 40591/11).

«The case concerned shortcomings in the criminal proceedings against a number of individuals charged with prostitution offences in relation to a fourteen-year-old child. The Court found that the lack of support for the applicant, the failure to protect her against the defendants, the unnecessary reconstruction of the rape incidents, the repeated medical examinations, the lack of a calm and secure environment at the hearings, the assessment of the victim’s consent, the excessive length of the proceedings, and, lastly, the fact that two of the charges had become time-barred, amounted to a serious case of secondary victimisation of the applicant. The national authorities’ conduct had been inconsistent with the obligation to protect a child who had been the victim of sexual exploitation and abuse.»

Direct link to the judgment (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Accès direct au communiqué de presse (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Direct link to the press release (hudoc.echr.coe.int)