The platform “We will stop the murder of women” (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu, KCDP) has presented an annual report on male violence against women and children in Turkey. The platform points to the rising number of feminicide and criticises that the authorities are not as committed as women to complying with laws and the Istanbul Convention.
Regulations such as Law No. 6284, which the AKP government says is intended to act as a “protective cloak for women”, or the Istanbul Convention (Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) are not effectively enforced.
Review
According to data collected by the platform throughout the year, 474 women were murdered by men in Turkey in 2019. “We have encountered many cases where women were found dead in a suspicious manner in the house, on the side of the road, in the sea or on a riverbank,” the annual report says. Similarly, there have been murders of women that were to be disguised as a fire accident or suicide. “Women were killed or injured by male violence because they were not given protection despite a court order to do so. Women were murdered because they wanted to separate or divorce. Women were murdered because they rejected marriage proposals. Women have also been murdered in shelters to which they have fled from male violence. Police violence was used in Turkey against the Las Tesis performance, which is directed against patriarchal violence and has gone around the world, and arrests were made.”
Culprits in close circle of acquaintances
In December alone, 42 women were murdered in Turkey. In the whole year 2019, the husbands were the perpetrators in 134 murder cases, in 25 cases the ex-husbands, in 51 cases the life partners, in 8 cases ex-boyfriends, in 29 cases uncles, brothers-in-law, fathers-in-law and perpetrators with similar family relationships, in 15 cases the fathers, in 13 cases the brothers, in 19 cases acquaintances. Only three women were murdered by unknown persons.
Murder methods
In 2019, according to the KCDP, 185 women were shot dead, 101 stabbed, 29 strangled, six poisoned, 27 beaten to death, six burned and 19 thrown from a height.
Crime scenes
292 women were murdered in their own homes, 52 on the open street, nine in cars, three in shops, two in amusement parks, two in hospitals, six at work, one in a café, one at school, five in a hotel, five in a park and one in another public place.
Laws are not implemented
Law 6284 is designed to protect women from violence and to sanction perpetrators. It contains a prohibition of rapprochement for perpetrators of violence and protective measures for victims, ranging from material support to a new identity, which have been enforced by women’s organisations in a long struggle. For years, the Platform has criticised the fact that the law is not being implemented. Victims receive little support and too often the perpetrators get away with reduced sentences, for example because of “provocation” or “good behaviour”, which significantly lower the inhibition threshold of violence.
Who is the platform “We will stop the murder of women”?
The platform wants to stop the murder of women and protect women from violence. It is primarily committed to the preservation of life and all women’s rights. The founders of the association are family members of the murdered women, women from different parties, institutions, trade unions, other associations, but also non-organised interested women
