“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2025
2025
Sexual violence against minors is a serious societal issue in Azerbaijan. It is quite difficult to find accurate data on this phenomenon, as official statistics are often either inaccessible or incomplete. Nevertheless, in addition to Azerbaijani human rights defenders and activists, international organizations and human rights groups have also addressed the issue and published reports.
Recently, Azerbaijani feminist activist Gulnara Mehdiyeva published material regarding child abuse: '...They say that in the Safsu neighbourhood of Yasamal district, a woman has been exploiting her 14-year-old daughter as a sex worker for 2 years (starting from age 12). Every day she dresses her daughter in provocative clothes, applies makeup, and takes her out to the street. She sells the child to wealthy people for 500 manats.' It is noted that the trafficking department and police have been notified about what took place, but no action has been taken by the relevant authorities.
According to data from the Statistical Committee, there has been a sharp increase in the number of pregnancy terminations among minors in Azerbaijan. In 2022, the total number of artificial pregnancy terminations in Azerbaijan was 57,999. Of these, 2,080 were carried out among individuals aged 15 to 19. According to 2023 data, there were 2,596 cases of pregnancy termination registered among 15- to 19-year-olds in Azerbaijan, of which 68 involved individuals aged 15 to 17, and 2,528 involved those aged 18 to 19.
International organizations also report an increase in cases of sexual violence against children in Azerbaijan. The US Department of Labor’s (USDOL) report titled '2021 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor states that forced begging and the commercial sexual exploitation of children remain serious problems in Azerbaijan.
As early as 2013, a representative of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that in the first five months of that year, 500 cases of crimes against children were examined in court, 57 of which were related to the rape of minors. Among all criminal cases, 29% involved crimes against sexual freedom or inviolability, and cases of sexual violence made up 11%, of which 4% were committed against children. From this, it can be concluded that the issue has always been a relevant concern for the country.
Several years ago, one of the Azerbaijani news websites published an article titled " In Azerbaijan, four children who had experienced sexual violence received syphilis diagnoses." The story concerned 4 minors - children aged 8, 9, 10, and 11 years old - who were found on the streets of Baku and had lived on the streets for a long time, spending nights in abandoned and dilapidated buildings in various locations. These children were subjected not only to beatings, but also to physical and sexual violence. During the investigation, it was revealed that an older homeless teenager had forced these children to engage in begging during the daytime and subjected them to sexual exploitation at night. After being discovered, the minors were transferred to the "Place of Hope" children's shelter.
Another scandalous case of child abuse took place in Azerbaijan’s southern Lerik district. A 14-year-old schoolgirl was raped by a relative of a local official. The entire rape was recorded on video. According to published material, the 7th-grade minor became pregnant. The case caused a major uproar because the alleged perpetrator was connected to an official.
Gulnara Mehdiyeva spoke about other cases as well: 'In 2019, a girl appeared on television who told that when she was 15 years old, her mother sent her to her boss. Despite the incident causing a major uproar, there was no serious response from any relevant authorities, and the public was not informed about any measures taken.' In another case, a mother was encouraging her daughters to send intimate photos to men.
There are numerous similar cases, but mainly what happens is ‘covered up’ by the minors’ parents - in many cases presenting it not as sexual violence against the minor, but as ‘early marriage,’ despite the legal marriage age in Azerbaijan being 18. Very recently, a case of child abduction was reported in the Shahbuz district of Nakhijevan, involving the forced early marriage of a minor.
According to Azerbaijani lawyer Zibeyda Sadikova, there are serious legal gaps in Azerbaijani legislation regarding the sexual exploitation of children and their involvement in sexual labor. While in some countries such crimes are punishable by life imprisonment, in Azerbaijan the maximum sentence ranges from 3 to 10 years. There are also significant shortcomings in law enforcement mechanisms. Regulations concerning the safe interrogation of children, medical examinations, investigative methods, and the specialization of investigators are either absent or vaguely defined. According to Sadikova, the lack of criminal legal tools and clear procedures hinders the effective fight against cases of child sexual exploitation, as no comprehensive legal protection measures have been developed.
Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code provides for liability for sexual violence, including crimes committed against minors. Articles such as rape (Article 138), violent acts of a sexual nature (Article 139), compulsion to sexual acts (Article 140), engaging in acts of a sexual nature with a person under the age of sixteen (Article 141), and lewd acts (Article 142) address such offenses.
The protection of children from sexual exploitation is regulated by international law. Key documents in this field include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), its Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (2000), and the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Convention (to which Azerbaijan joined in 2019). These documents provide for preventive, protective, interventionist, punitive, and investigative measures.
According to international requirements, states must establish specialized institutions, monitoring systems for children, prevent school absenteeism, conduct awareness-raising activities, and cooperate with local authorities. For victims, permanent active legal protection systems, hotlines, and social assistance mechanisms should be created. However, in Azerbaijan, the situation is quite the opposite: absence of statistics on sexual violence, silence and fear among minor victims, inaction by the relevant authorities, and in many cases, the violence is disguised as a ‘source of income’ or ‘early marriage.’