By the Ministry of Health Legal Consultancy; In the legal opinion addressed to the General Directorate of Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning; “The pregnant child; Since the public official who detects the pregnancy cannot know whether the victim is a result of sexual behavior based on force, threat, fraud or any other reason that affects the will, or based on consensual sexual intercourse, it is determined that pregnant women under the age of 18 who do not have an official marriage apply to health institutions and organizations. It was stated that "in case of notification to judicial units is required."
In 2009, the Ministry of Health Legal Consultancy; He re-evaluated the issue and changed his opinion due to "in terms of the safety of healthcare personnel in practice and the negative consequences of follow-up of pregnant women under the age of 18, who are in the risky pregnant group." According to this view; “When pregnant women under the age of 18 who do not have an official marriage apply to public health institutions and organizations, all those who have not completed the age of 15 (with or without consent) and those who have completed the age of 15, if there is force, threat, fraud or any sign that affects the will, He stated that he had come to the conclusion that "it should be reported to the judicial authorities." However, the forensic medicine expert must decide on issues such as the existence of a physical and/or psychological trauma, whether the child has a psychological and cognitive intelligence level appropriate to his age, and whether he can defend himself physically and psychologically against this factor. While making this decision, the forensic medicine specialist can also make a decision with a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, after taking the opinion of a child psychiatrist and, if necessary, a pediatric surgeon and gynecologist, after several interviews and examinations. The fact that physicians take the initiative of not reporting a forensic case by making such an important evaluation causes many medical and legal problems, such as failure to manage the cases according to a scientific approach and algorithm, loss of rights, impunity of the criminal, and loss of time for the curettage option, resulting in additional losses. Most importantly, it will cause child abuse to be missed.
On the other hand, reporting child abuse is not only the duty of the physician. In cases where social workers, nurses, other health personnel, public employees such as teachers, guidance counselors, or even unqualified citizens have knowledge that a crime has been committed, they have the obligation to report, and if they fail to report, there is a criminal sanction. The Turkish Penal Code is clear on this issue:
Crime of Not Reporting the Crime
In Article 278 of the Turkish Penal Code, failure to report a crime in progress to the competent authorities is considered a crime. has been defined.The liability stipulated in this provision/in case of non-fulfillment is valid for everyone, not for any professional or security forces. Accordingly, anyone who learns that a crime is being committed and its execution is continuing is obliged to report this situation to law enforcement authorities, the prosecutor or other authorities specified in the law. TCK Article 278 – (1) A person who does not report a crime that is being committed to the competent authorities is punished with imprisonment for up to one year. (2) A person who does not report to the competent authorities a crime that has been committed, but whose consequences are still possible to limit, is punished in accordance with the provision of the above paragraph. . (3) If the victim is a child under the age of fifteen, a person who is physically or mentally disabled, or someone who is unable to defend himself/herself due to pregnancy, the penalty to be imposed in accordance with the above paragraphs is increased by half. It also imposes a duty on both its employees and healthcare professionals to report the crime. The issue has been sanctioned by a separate legal regulation on the subject. For this reason, if healthcare professionals, who may or may not be public officials, "learn" that a crime has been committed while performing their duties or practicing their profession, they are obliged to report this to the competent authorities. If they do not report it, they may be punished according to Article 279 or 280 of the Turkish Penal Code, as appropriate:
The regulation regarding the public official's failure to report the crime is included in Article 279: (1) He states that a crime requiring investigation and prosecution has been committed on behalf of the public in connection with his duty. Any public official who learns of the crime and neglects to notify the competent authorities or delays in doing so is punished with imprisonment from six months to two years. (2) If the crime is committed by a person performing judicial law enforcement duties, the penalty to be imposed in accordance with the above paragraph is increased by half. Judicial fact reporting/notification must be made to the prosecutor or law enforcement authorities. A public health officer has the duty to report to the competent authority all crimes that require investigation and prosecution on behalf of the public that he learns in connection with his duties. However, the public official does not have such an obligation for crimes based on complaints. Which crimes are subject to investigation and prosecution by complaint are shown in the relevant criminal provision. For example, the pursuit of simple cases of injury caused by negligence and qualified cases that are not committed through conscious negligence depends on the complaint.
Regulation regarding healthcare professionals (doctor, dentist, nurse, etc.) Article 280 : (1) A healthcare professional who does not report the situation to the competent authorities or delays in doing so, despite encountering an indication that a crime has been committed while performing his/her duty, is punished with imprisonment for up to one year. (2) Health The term "professional" means physicians, dentists, pharmacists, midwives, nurses and other people who provide health services.
Regarding the performance of health professions, public employees are involved in crimes such as murder, intentional injury, organ trafficking, child abuse, etc. , the healthcare professional must inform the competent authorities. If a public official or healthcare personnel is late in reporting, they will still be deemed to have committed a crime. The law does not provide any regulation regarding the form of notification. Notification can be made by any means.
However, it would be appropriate to make the notification in writing in order to prove that the healthcare personnel has fulfilled their notification obligation. The pursuit of the person who committed the crime of not reporting the crime is not dependent on the complaint. When the prosecutor learns about the crime, he will investigate it ex officio. In addition, when the crime is related to the courthouse, the perpetrator will not be able to benefit from the protection provided in Law No. 4483 and Article 53/c of Law No. 2547. In other words, whether it is subject to the YÖK Law or Law No. 4483, If a healthcare worker commits this crime, even if he is a personnel subject to the law, the prosecutor's office is the competent authority to investigate. The investigation will be carried out by the prosecutor without the need for any administrative permission procedure.
As a result, it is a very important problem that 115 pregnant children applied to the hospital in only one district of Istanbul in the first 5 months of the year. It should be urgently ensured that these cases are managed individually with an effective and scientific approach, more effective large-scale measures are taken against the problem of child pregnancy, the physical and spiritual development and health of children are protected, and both healthcare professionals and the rest of the society raise awareness on this issue.
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