Lawyer Ceren Kalay Eken

Ceren KALAY EKEN, who was born in Ordu in 1982, completed her primary, secondary and high school education in Muðla. She graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Law in 2005. After completing her law internship at Ankara Bar Association, she has been working as a lawyer in Ankara Bar Association since 2006. Previously, while working in company consultancy, Enforcement Law and debt resssstructuring, after 2013, she started to focus on Victim rights, mainly children and women´s rights. she is one of the guiding lawyers of the Gelincik Project, which follows the Ankara Bar Association´s files containing violence against women, children and all disadvantaged persons.

She took office as an instructor in many boards of Ankara Bar Association and took over the duty of Secretary General of Children´s Rights Center in 2018-2020 period. In 2021, She is the President of Ankara Bar Association Women´s Rights Center. She explained the institution of Children´s Rights and Conciliation in the Criminal Procedure Law during the trainings within the scope of the Bar Association. In addition, Ankara Bar Association facilitates the optional course on Gender Equality in internship training. She conducts studies in the field of Criminal Law and Family Law, with emphasis on women´s and children´s rights. Besides, she is a mediator and works on Labor Law files.

She has participated as a speaker in many panels and conversations, in addition to the Victim Rights works regarding women, children, refugees and victims of discrimination. Ankara Bar Association explained Children´s Rights to teachers, administrative staff and high school students in many schools in Ankara on behalf of the Children´s Rights Center. Under the Ministry of Justice, he has been working as a mediator since 2016, in other words, he has also been working as a conciliator in criminal files.

Attorney Ceren Kalay Eken, a member of the Network of Lawyers Working in the Field of Children (ÇAÇAV), is also one of the founding members of the Akrander Association, which conducts studies on peer conflict resolution. He is also a member of the Turkish University Women Association. Since 2016, she has been providing voluntary consultancy services at the Ankara-based Women´s Solidarity Foundation. In addition to the advanced level of English, there is also a beginner level of Italian education.

Believing that the way to a nonviolent society is to ensure equality between individuals in the society, Atty. Ceren KALAY EKEN believes that empowering individuals by raising awareness through rights advocacy and training is a must in order to ensure the social equality of children, women and all individuals who are discriminated against.

Child Rights and Exploitation 

The value that a society attaches to children in ensuring the development and continuity of societies is directly proportional to its development (Akyüz, 2000,1). The child is not a diminished adult model, but an independent individual equipped with unique intelligence and personality traits (Yavuzer, 1994, 26). A civilized society is a society with rules.

Since the most important and most effective of the rules regulating the society is the rules of law (Kepenekçi, 2008,5), it is not enough to take only educational measures for the upbringing, development and protection of the child. In addition, the legal rules that regulate this in the society should also be included in this framework.

According to Akyüz (2000), the fact that these rules comply with human dignity, dignity and freedom is beneficial not only for the child but also for the society. The increase in cases of neglect and abuse of children is worrying. Although the history of the first studies on the rights of the child goes back to many years, it is determined in the reports prepared by the Child Rights Committees that in addition to the lack of systematic inspection and complaint mechanisms, public awareness on children´s rights is not fully formed.

Therefore, in addition to legal regulations on children´s rights, more efforts are required to raise awareness in the public. In the first part of this study, the rights of children and legal measures taken for the protection of children are discussed with the concepts of child rights and child law. The second part focuses on the legal framework for creating safe environments for children and protecting them from active and passive violence such as neglect and abuse. 10/02/2021

Child Rights and Exploitation Seminar (Slide)