When will Gender-biased violations in Turkey end?
Femicide continues to rise since turkey’s government withdraws from an agreement that was meant for gender-based violence. Banners and protests were raised against this agreement. In 2019 alone, 474 women were killed in turkey. The violence was raised as no government policy stopped it. The Istanbul Convention was specifically designed to protect women but the government presently can’t seem to report whether they will pull out of the Istanbul Convention. The decision has been postponed a lot of times. Femicide is gender-based violence where several women are raped, harassed, murdered, and are going through domestic violence. More than 474 women were killed by their former or current partners and family members.
According to WHO, femicide is defined as the intentional killing of women. When the Istanbul convention was signed in the year 2011, that was the only year when the femicide rate was low in turkey. But after that year passed, there was an increase in the death rate, according to KCDP. In the year 2011, there was strong combat going on to protect women against all the violence. In law number 6284, new Turkish legislation made sure to protect women and prevent all the violence. This all happened when Ankara joined the convention.
Many Turkish women had their stories because no one was stopping femicide:
On August 18th, 2019, Bulut was stabbed by her ex-husband in front of her daughter. Although she was taken to the hospital after the attack, she died of the injuries. According to her husband, Bulut insulted him when they were talking about their child’s custody. This made her husband stab her to death.
Another victim of femicide was Gultekin, Gultekin got disappeared on 16 July 2020 after she left her house. Pinar Gultekin was 27 years old when she was found dead in the woods. Her ex-boyfriend strangled her, concealed her body in a container, left it in the forest, and poured cement over it. The man claims that he murdered her “in a moment of anger” after Gultekin rejected his advances for a relationship. Her death is not a coincidence, because there are many cases of femicides.
Femicide is increasing day by day. In May, 21 women were killed and there were 18 suspicious deaths. Talking about June, there were 27 deaths and 23 suspicious deaths. The women killed in July 2020 alone were 36 in total. Apart from this, there were 11 suspicious deaths.
Although many politicians have raised voices against femicide until a proper decision is made against femicide, these voices are still not enough for many people. Melike Hanim stated:
“A withdrawal will weaken women’s position within society and give power to the patriarchy,” she further said “By withdrawing from a convention that aims to protect women’s lives, men who use violence against women will think that the government stands behind them. In other words, the patriarchy is being endorsed.”
The global pandemic was the major reason for the increase in domestic violence. It played a huge role in increasing gender-based violence in Turkey. According to Melike Hanim, there were a lot of women who were reaching out for help. She stated:
“We were in a state of emergency as a whole world and country due to the recent coronavirus pandemic,” she further said. “Along with practices such as quarantine, isolation, and working from home, women particularly faced more threats of domestic violence.”
To protect women from these gender-biased violations, the turkey must remain the part of Istanbul convention and Law 6384 is fully implemented in the whole state. Melike Hanim, a spokesperson for the KCDP, told Al Arabiya English:
“The Istanbul Convention cannot be canceled. We won’t give up on the Istanbul Convention. We are struggling for the effective implementation of these achievements, the Istanbul Convention. When the Istanbul Convention is implemented, it prevents violence and keeps women alive.”
She also stated:
“The main solution is to achieve gender equality and the political will is necessary for achieving the gender equality,” she further said, “The President and the leaders of all political parties should condemn violence against women. The Istanbul Convention and the protection Law 6284 should be efficiently implemented.”
There are laws present against femicides and those laws are sufficient. The problem which is occurring is in practicing those laws and how the problem is interpreting but it is high time that the government of turkey takes action on it. Its high time that femicide in Turkey comes to an end.
References:
Femicide in Turkey on the Rise Amid Debate Over Law Protecting Women, Al Arabiya English – https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2020/08/19/Femicide-in-Turkey-on-the-rise-amid-debate-over-law-protecting-women
Murder in Turkey Sparks Outrage Over Rising Violence Against Women
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/23/turkey-outrage-rising-violence-against-women
Turkey’s Long History Of Femicides: Dw: 24.07.2020
Deutsche (www.dw.com) – https://www.dw.com/en/femicide-rates-turkey/a-54311038
‘black and White’ Campaign Highlights Femicide in Turkey
News Elsewhere… – https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-53596483
Femicide in Turkey Is Increasing, but Protections For Women Are Under Threat
Raiyah Butt – https://observatoryihr.org/blog/femicide-in-turkey-is-increasing-but-protections-for-women-are-under-threat/