For several weeks, demonstrations have been organized in Turkey to denounce the government’s inaction after a series of feminicides, including the murder of two women by a 19-year-old young man.
A series of sordid news items. Protests have taken place across Turkey in recent weeks. The trigger: the murder of two young 19-year-old women on October 9. One was slit and the second decapitated on the city walls of Istanbul in the old quarter of Fatih.
The perpetrator of the feminicide, also 19 years old, then committed suicide. Her mother had requested follow-up, the young girls had filed a complaint against the harassment but to no avail. Another drama to date, the recent discovery of the body of little Narin, 8 years old, sexually abused, and whose investigation is still ongoing as reported by the daily Hürriyet. His uncle was arrested and is among the suspects.
Then, in the west of the country, a 2-year-old child, mistreated and sexually abused, was taken care of in hospital before dying on October 7, according to Arti Gerçek, specifying that the mother, her companion, a neighbor and the family’s two sons were arrested.
A system that “does not protect women”
Although there are no official sources in Turkey on the number of feminicides, feminist NGOs, according to facts reported by the press, have recorded at least 295 cases of women killed since the start of the year, most often by their spouses, ex-partners, or members of their close family. Some 160 deaths considered “suspicious” are also mentioned, such as women who fell from their balconies.
Feminist NGOs denounce the Turkish system, which does not protect women. They list several flaws in society, such as the lack of listening to victims who come to file complaints at police stations.
The courts are also in the sights. Judges are said to be too lenient with defendants, finding mitigating circumstances for them in order to obtain sentence reductions. Cases of recidivism are also pointed out, with husbands convicted of domestic violence who obtain conditional release and once released, return home and kill their wives.
Faced with this situation, organizations have called for a strong reaction from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while the latter withdrew Turkey from the Istanbul Convention, the only law protecting women from violence. For the moment, the first decision taken by the government is to block access to the Discord platform, a forum on which Internet users had rejoiced over the murders of the two women in Istanbul.
“If we are not capable of sternly fighting those responsible for homicides against women and children, we cannot claim the responsibility of running a country. This is a basic duty for every human being,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared in November 2022.
