Lack of Protection for Un-Married Women

30-year-old female A.A. from Ankara was beaten by her husband Emin K. when she refused to give him the money she earned as a waitress. The marriage of the couple was not officially registered but carried out by an imam, the worship leader of a mosque. The young woman took her four-year-old daughter and went to hospital. Subsequently, she applied to the police station in her neighbourhood.

A.A. went to the Ankara Courthouse and filed a criminal complaint at the prosecution. She was then sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute to obtain a medical report.

According to the press, A.A. explained the violence she experienced in her complaint and said that Emin K. told her "I will not surrender to the police before I have not killed you".

The young woman submitted the medical report on the results of the violence she had been imposed to the prosecution.

She waited for the decision together with her daughter when she was informed that the court was not entitled to take a precautionary decision since she was married religiously and not officially and thus did not fall under the scope of Law No.4320 on the "Protection of the Family".

According to the existing legislations, decisions for protection and precaution regarding un-married women can only be given by the district governorship.

The Ankara Bar Association appointed a lawyer for A.A. as part of their "Gelincik Project" launched in order to provide legal support for women who experienced violence.

A.A. has been living together with Emin K. for ten years and experienced systematic ill-treatment during that time. She was stabbed some time ago and was kept in intensive care since she was in a very serious condition.  Emin K. had to go to prison after this incident but was released when his wife withdrew her complaint. (IC/VK)