Men Kill 23 Women, 1 Child in May

According to the data based on reports in local and national newspapers and news agencies, a compilation made by bianet revealed that male violence left 23 women and 1 teenager girl killed, 13 women and teenager girls raped, 36 women injured, and 25 women sexually harassed in May 2014. 

Overall in 2014, male perpetrators left 112 women killed, 32 raped, 236 battered and 44 harassed.

Murder

In May, men killed 23 women in 14 cities across Turkey. During these incidents, one man and an 8-years old girl were killed and two men were injured as well. 

Three women were slain for seeking divorce. One woman was killed despite the court restraint order for her husband. A man who killed his lover this month was released from the prison thanks to amnesty in which he was sentenced due to “killing” and “sexual harassment” offenses.  

56.5 percent of women were killed by their husbands: 13 women were killed by their husbands. Other murder perpetrator men were identified as brother (2), the lover of their mother (2), male relative (1), ex-fiancé (1), fiancé (1) and father-in-law (1). 

69.5 percent of murders were perpetrated by guns: Murders were committed by the following methods: revolver (8), shot-gun (6), shotgun (2), knife (4), by beating (3).
While two of the murderers committed to suicide, two of them attempted to suicide. Two men surrendered after the murders.

The murderers were aged between 24 to 65 years old; while female victims' ages differed from 17 to 61 in May 2014.

The female murder cases were reported mostly in Istanbul. 

Murder cases were reported in the following cities: Adana, Amasya, Antep (3), Bursa, Çorum, Erzurum (2), Hatay, İstanbul (6), Karaman, Konya (2), Manisa, Muğla, Osmaniye and Yozgat.

Rape

In May, men raped 13 women and girl in 10 cities across Turkey. One of the victims was a mentally retarded person and the two of them were tourists.

Eight of the rapists were arrested after being caught; however seven of them were released pending a trial. On the other hand, the judicial process about the seven rapists was not covered in media.

77 percent of women were raped by men that were unknown to these women. Rapist men were identified as unknown (10), cousin (2) and a girl was raped by the school bus driver.

46 percent of rape incidents occurred on the street, 23 percent of rape incidents occurred in the places where women were forcibly kept: Six women were raped on street, three were raped in places where they were forcibly kept, one was raped in the apartment building entrance and one was raped in vehicle. 

Rape cases were reported in the following cities: Antalya (2), Aydın, Bursa, Hatay, İzmir, Muğla (2), Ordu, Samsun, Urfa. 

Battery/Assault

In May, men battered 36 women in 21 provinces across Turkey.

One woman was assaulted coming out of the courthouse she had gone to to extend the period of her panic button. 11 percent of women were subjected to violence for seeking divorce. Two of the women men assaulted were trans sex workers.

Two men who seriously injured their wives committed suicide after the event. Three men attacked the homes or workplaces of the women they battered. One broke the windows of his ex-lover’s workplace; one set fire to his wife’s house, and another demolished his wife’s house with a digger.

Men had various excuses for violence in May; women encountered violence for wanting to go work, for wanting to go to the hospital while pregnant, and telling their husbands, “brush your teeth”.

61 percent of the women were subjected to violence by their husbands and 14 percent from their lovers: 22 women were injured by their husbands, 5 by their lovers, 2 by their friends, 2 by their clients, 1 by a male relative, 1 by her ex-husband, 1 by her ex-lover, 1 by her tenant, and 1 by her son.

75 percent of the injury cases took place in the form of battery: 27 were battered, 5 were injured with a knife and 3 with a gun. One man sufficed with tearing down the house of his wife who wanted a divorce.

The ages of the men who inflicted violence in May were between 20 and 71, while the ages of the women and female children who encountered violence alternated between 15 and 70.

In May, male violence was reported in the following provinces: Adana (2), Adıyaman (2), Ankara (2), Antalya (4), Batman, Bolu, Çorum (2), Eskişehir (2), İstanbul (4), İzmir, Kayseri (3), Kırklareli (2), Kilis, Kocaeli, Konya (2), Mersin, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Trabzon, and Zonguldak.

Harassment

Men harassed 25 women and female children in 6 provinces in May. 

84 percent of the women were harassed through communication technologies: 21 women were harassed through messages sent to their phones and men filming them, 2 were harassed at home, 1 at a hotel, 1 on a public transport vehicle.

88 percent of the women were harassed by men they didn’t know: 23 women were harassed by men they didn’t know, 1 by her father, and 1 girl by her sister’s friend.

The ages of the harassers in May were between 25 and 59, while the ages of the harassed women and female children alternated between 12 and 26.

Sexual harassment incidents were reported in the provinces, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Kırklareli, Sakarya and Zonguldak.

Retaliation to male violence 

In Kayseri province, a woman murdered her husband, claiming that he was systematically battering her. 

In Istanbul province, a woman assaulted his lover with a knife in order to protect herself from battery.

Regional distribution 

In May 2014, 97 cases of violence against women, murder, attempted murder, harassment, rape, injury and child abuse were reported across 35 provinces across Turkey. 

97 incidents were distributed according to regions as follows: Marmara (19), Aegean (27), Mediterranean (16), Black Sea (10), Eastern-Anatolia (2), Central Anatolia (14) and South-Eastern Anatolia (9). (ÇT/CB/PU/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.