Men Kill 20 Women in October
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According to the news that bianet compiled from local and domestic newspapers, news websites and agencies; men killed at least 20 women and two girls, raped four women, harassed seven women, forced 93 women to sex work, sexually abused 27 girls, one boy; inflicted violence on 25 women in October. Men also harassed three women by digital means.
In addition to 20 women killed in October in Turkey, one man attempted to kill his wife by stabbing her with a knife for multiple times in Elazığ. While the ensuing judicial process regarding this incident was not reported in the news, the woman is still in critical condition.
Moreover, the perpetrator involved in murdering a woman named Melahat Mersinli in İzmir on June 7, was identified and arrested on October 5.
In the first ten months of 2018, men killed at least 203 women and 12 children; raped 54 women; harassed 169 women; forced 468 women to sex work; sexually abused 306 girls; and injured 341 women.
Murder
Men killed at least 20 women and two children in October.
Four of the women were murdered because they rejected proposals of reconciliation and two of them were killed on the pretext of "jealousy". One woman was killed by two tenants, one woman by her neighbor and one woman by her brother.
20 percent of the deceased women were killed because they rejected reconciliation proposals.
10 women were killed by their husbands; four women by their lovers; two women by their ex-husbands; one woman by her brother; one woman by her neighbor; one woman by her fiance; and one woman was killed by two men, to whom she rented out her office.
Ten of the murders were carried out with a knife; six of them with firearms; one of them with a meat cleaver; one of the by strangling with a scarf; and one of them by strangling with hands. The cause of death of one woman has still not been found.
15 of the murders took place in house; three of them on the street; one of them at the workplace of the woman; one of them in a mountainous area. 75 percent of them took place in house and 15 percent of them on the street.
One of the deceased women was from Syria and one of them from Uzbekistan. Two children who were killed in October were four and six years old and were from Syria.
The femicides in October took place in the following provinces of Turkey: Afyon (1), Ankara (2), Aydın (1), Antalya (1), Antep (1), İstanbul (3), Diyarbakır (1), Iğdır (1), Tekirdağ (1), Denizli (1), Isparta (1), İzmir (1), Kayseri (1), Bursa (1), Uşak (1), Manisa (2).
Rape
Men raped four women in three provinces in October. While two of the incidents took place in İstanbul, one of them in Bursa and one in Muğla.
In one incident of rape in İstanbul, two men raped a woman with mental disabilities. In one incident, the perpetrator was the cousin of the woman's friend. In Bursa, the perpetrator was a close relative of the woman. In Muğla, the perpetrator was the burglar who broke into a house.
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Judicial Process Four of the perpetrators were arrested. In two incidents of rape in İstanbul, four men who went to a house to rape a woman with mental disabilities and a man who raped the friend of his cousin were released. |
Forced sex work
In October, men forced 93 women to sex work in the following provinces:İstanbul (60), Antalya (18), Hatay (11), Bursa (1) Kocaeli (3).
89 of these 93 women were not citizens of Turkey; three of them were a citizen of Uzbekistan and one of them was a citizen of Turkey.
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Judicial Process 35 perpetrators were taken into custody. Three of them were arrested. The judicial processes of 10 perpetrators in İstanbul, Bursa and Antalya were not reported in the news. |
Harassment
In October, men harassed seven women in the following provinces: İstanbul (3), Manisa (2), Muğla (1) Sakarya (1)
One of the perpetrators was a bus driver; one of them a football player; and four of them were male strangers.
One of the harassment incidents took place at bus; three of them on the street; one of them at the set of a TV series; one of them on the phone; and of them in an entertainment center.
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Judicial Process One of the perpetrators was dismissed (bus driver) and one of the was taken into custody. The judicial process of one perpetrator (football player) was not reported in the news. A legal action was taken against two perpetrators, a warrant was issued against one of the perpetrators. |
Digital Harassment
Men harassed three women via digital channels in the following provinces: Samsun (1) and Kocaeli (2).
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Judicial Process While of the harassers was released on probation, it was seen that an investigation has previously been launched against one perpetrator for harassment via social media. |
Child Abuse
18 men sexually abused 18 girl children and one boy children in October.
The incidents took place in the following provinces: Kocaeli (2), Afyon (1), Urfa (1), Denizli (1), Antalya (1), Muğla (1), Osmaniye (1) Trabzon (1).
One of the abusers was the owner of a shop; the perpetrator that harassed 18 girls and one boy was a teacher; one of the abusers was the husband of her sister; one abuser a cleaning worker; four of them male acquaintances; one of them a male stranger and one of them the father.
One of the girl children was with disabilities. Three incidents of child abuse was captured by surveillance cameras.
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Judicial Process 15 of the 18 abusers were arrested. |
Violence - Injury
In October, 24 men inflicted violence on 25 women, one of whom is still in critical condition.
The incidents of violence and injury took place in the following provinces: İstanbul (6), Karaman (1) Antalya (4), Bursa (1), Mersin (1), Aksaray (1), Antep (1), Aydın (1), Denizli (1), Samsun (2), Erzurum (1), Adana (2), Maraş (1) Karabük (1), İzmir (1)
One of the woman was subjected to violence despite a suspension order. One of the women was subjected to violence by her lover; one woman by her ex-fiance; one woman by the burglar that broke into her house; 13 women by their husbands; two women by their children; one woman by her ex-husband; one woman by the men, to whom she rented out her office; and one woman was injured by her father. One woman has still been in critical condition.
Two of the women were injured by their husbands, against whom they filed a divorce lawsuit. Two of the women had previously been subjected to violence by the same perpetrators.
One of the men injured a woman with the butt of a weapon and wounded with a pump-rifle.
One woman was subjected to violence by her husband, who is also a police officer. The house of a woman, who was battered by her child, was also burned by the same perpetrator.
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Judicial Process 11 of the male perpetrators were released after being detained; an investigation was launched against the police officer; four of the perpetrators were arrested; a warrant was issued against one man. The judicial processes of 8 perpetrators were not reported in the press. |
Suspicious Death / Suicide
In October 2018, five incidents of suspicious death/ suicide were reported in the news in the following provinces: Adana (1), İstanbul (2), Mersin (1), Adana (1)
While it was alleged that one woman committed suicide with a weapon in Hatay, the woman wrote in her diary that her husband wanted to kill her. The deceased body of one woman was found in a water channel in Adana. Singer Tuğba Ergüzel was found dead by her family at her house in İstanbul. One woman in İstanbul, whose death was also suspicious, was shot to death at the house of her lover.
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Judicial Process While the forensic report is being waited for one suspicious death, an investigation was launched into four incidents. |
| Explanation
The bianet Male Violence Monitoring Report only covers women who lost their lives as a result of male violence. We do not take include any violence cases or crimes that are not gender-based. Throughout the year, we keep track of unidentified murders and suspicious deaths of women in separate monthly tallies but do not add them to the number presented in the headline. At the end of the year, we examine these cases of unidentified murders and suspicious deaths to determine whether the crimes were gender-based. In time, when we come to the conclusion that a crime is gender-base, we include it in the end-of-year tally. We do not include any murders in the reports that are committed by people with psychological disorders (such as murders committed by people with schizophrenia). We include suicide or suicide attempt incidents in the tally only if the woman was subjected to violence/ systematic violence in her past. We cover these suicide incidents in a separate category and do not add suicide cases to the number presented in the headline. In addition, we don't include femicide cases that occur in a mass murder in which the woman was not directly targeted under the condition that the debated incident is not gender based either. For example, following case from June 11, 2017 was not included in our male violence report: * A.K. (27), a rancher in Konya province killed his relatives Bekir Kıran (80/male), Mustafa Tokat (80/male), Meryem Tokat (79/female), Hamit Tokat (51/male) and Mehmet Tokat (64/male) with a barreled-gun. He was caught on the way home after committing the murders. It was reported, that A.K. had schizophrenia and considered the villagers responsible for the death of his father, who had lost his life after a heart attack. The occupational groups mentioned in the report, only cover cases in which the occupations have relevance for the act of violence. * Example: "The expression "x% of the rapists were drivers",imply that the woman was raped by the driver of the (public) transportation vehicle she used. |
(EMK/SD)
* Images: Yağmur Karagöz
Editor of bianet Women’s News (2018). Editor of bianet Women’s and LGBTI+ News from October 2018 to February 2025. She conducts workshops on gender-focused journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. She is among the founders of the Women and LGBTI+ Commission of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS). She is a board member of the TGS Istanbul Branch for the 2023–2027 term. She received the Musa Anter Journalism Award in 2011 and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award in 2024. She worked as a reporter for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, İMC TV, DİHA, Jinha, and Jin News, and also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her news reports and articles have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and trade magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a Hemşin culture magazine. She contributed writings to the books Yeşilden Maviye Karadenizden Kadın Portreleri, Sırtında Sepeti, and Medya ve Yalanlar. She was a bianet intern in 2000. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University.
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