- Title: Turkey under pressure to tackle sharp rise in murders of women
- Date: 21st October 2019
- Summary: KIRIKKALE, TURKEY (RECENT - OCTOBER 9, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF THE COURTHOUSE WHERE EMINE BULUT'S TRIAL IS BEING HEARD MEMBERS OF WOMEN AND DEMOCRACY ASSOCIATION MAKING A STATEMENT FOR BULUT / WOMEN HOLDING A POSTER READING (Turkish) "JUSTICE FOR EMINE BULUT"
- Embargoed: 4th November 2019 12:40
- Keywords: Turkey gender issue women's rights femicide Istanbul convention domestic violence
- Location: ISTANBUL, TRABZON, KIRIKKALE, TURKEY / UNKNOWN LOCATION, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TRABZON, KIRIKKALE, TURKEY / UNKNOWN LOCATION, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003B21JCQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Emine Dirican's husband shot her in January and was released from jail pending appeal in May, leaving her in fear of being attacked again, in a case that underscores the vulnerability of women to violent attack and murder in Turkey.
Last year 440 women in Turkey were murdered by men, unofficial data show, more than doubling from 2012 when Ankara passed a law on preventing violence against women - a rise which some women's groups attribute to the failure to implement the legislation.
Turkey does not keep official statistics on femicide. World Health Organization data say 38% of women in Turkey are subject to violence from a partner in their lifetime, compared to about 25% in Europe.
The murder of Emine Bulut in August, captured on video, triggered nationwide protests by women, raising pressure on Ankara to act and prompting President Tayyip Erdogan to say he would approve any parliamentary move to restore the death penalty in Turkey.
The 38-year-old was stabbed by her former husband in front of her daughter. A Turkish court sentenced him to life in jail on Monday (October 21).
"We have the same (first) name but don't let our fate be the same," Dirican, 43, said in a tearful interview, sitting with her mother in the home where her husband shot her in January after she sought a divorce.
The court sentenced her husband to nine years in jail on various counts including willful injury, rejecting charges that he attempted to kill her. He was then released pending appeal.
Dirican, a beauty clinic employee, was shot in the leg and had to quit work. She says she is afraid to leave her home for fear of being attacked.
She faces a divorce hearing this month.
"I don't want to be found dead somewhere or for acid to be thrown at me," she said, adding that she was not receiving personal protection. "What is important to me is that the state protects me while I am alive."
Turkey led the way in ratifying a 2011 Council of Europe accord, the Istanbul Convention, which prioritizes gender equality. It also passed legislation in 2012 to protect women.
But women's groups say authorities are failing to implement their commitments under the Convention.
And perpetrators also believe they can secure reduced sentences through good behaviour and acting like a victim, said Acelya Sengul, whose mother was shot by a work colleague.
Sengul's mother Fatma was shot in front of their house in March and died in the arms of her daughter. After her death, women carried her coffin and staged a march in protest. Sengul said this support helped her cope with the tragedy
Turkey's family ministry did not respond to Reuters' questions regarding violence against women.
The government has taken measures such as tagging individuals known to resort to violence and creating a smartphone app in 2018 through which women can alert police.
Downloads of the app surged from 70,000 to some 320,000 following Bulut's murder, a deputy police chief said in an interview last month.
A year ago, the Council of Europe body which monitors the Convention's implementation called in a report for Turkey to abolish practices which discriminate against women, saying the root cause of the violence was gender inequality.
However, many in conservative and Islamist circles in Turkey are hostile to the Istanbul Convention and say gender equality undermines the institution of family.
Well-known Islamist writer Abdurrahman Dilipak said legislation designed to protect women, such as through restraining orders, was actually fuelling divorces and violence.
While most violence is within the family, and much of it is related to divorce proceedings, women's groups say there are also many cases where women are victims of violence solely because of their gender in a heavily patriarchal society.
(Production: Deniz Uyar, Mehmet Caliskan, Bulent Usta) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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