‘If Turkey withdraws from İstanbul Convention, our gains against violence will go to waste’

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"Technically, it is not possible for Turkey to 'abolish' or 'revise' the İstanbul Convention. Turkey cannot say, 'OK, I am revising it.' Because it is an international convention and it is within the discretion of all parties to amend it. If it wants, Turkey can - of course - say, 'I am withdrawing.'

"It will have grave consequences. Several steps taken in the face of violence against women will be lost. The gains and works in this field will go to waste. In fact, Turkey took quite serious steps in that regard..."

It is how Prof. Feride Acar raises concerns over the recent debates on Turkey's possible withdrawal from İstanbul Convention or, to put it in its full name, the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.

Prof. Feride Acar is the former President of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO). GREVIO is the independent expert body which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the İstanbul Convention.

That is why, she is one of the people knowledgeble of both the connection between Turkey and the convention and the responsibilities to be fulfilled by the states and authorities in protecting women from male violence.

'CoE perspective on Turkey to be adversely affected'

Acar speaks to bianet about the recent statements hinting that İstanbul Convention might be "revised" or "abolished." She is of the opinion that if Turkey withdraws from the convention, it will affect the Council of Europe's (CoE) perspective on Turkey quite negatively:

"I think that it will have some negative consequences in terms of the CoE's perspective on Turkey. I cannot name these consequences one by one, but - to me - it will be perceived as if Turkey withdrew from universal democracy, human rights, gender equality and prevention of violence.

"The recent debates on 'multiple bar associations', for instance, have affected the CoE circles quite negatively.

"The CoE Commissioner for Human Rights has quite clearly expressed her opinion and stated that the attitude taken towards the bars is not democratic in any way at all. We can guess that - just after this - a step like Turkey's withdrawal from İstanbul Convention will seriously affect our country's image and relations on the international platform."

As rightly put by Prof. Feride Acar, İstanbul Convention stipulates that the states shall assume responsibility in protecting individuals from violence. So, Acar comments: "If Turkey withdraws from the convention, it will be as if it said 'I will not protect them any more'."

Referring to the standards specified in the convention with regards to violence, Acar continues as follows:

"The convention says that violence against women is a violation of human rights. If Turkey withdraws from the convention, it will show that it will no longer abide by these values, which - in my view - will be very wrong for all people subjected to violence, especially women, and for our country..."

'Convention is not about family, but violence'

Acar reminds us that what the convention refers to as "domestic violence" in its English version has been translated into Turkish as "aile içi şiddet," which can also roughly translate as "intrafamilial violence."

Acar notes that the convention does not have a single article that targets the family, underlining that it is solely about violence inside the home.

"Turkey took important steps in the face of violence against women thanks to the convention," Acar says and warns, "Turkey set an important course of action about this issue. However, if it withdraws from the convention, it will waste all gains in that regard."

'There is nothing acceptable about this'

Concluding her remarks, Feride Acar briefly says the following:

"GREVIO monitored the implementation of İstanbul Convention by Turkey in 2018 and released its report. What Turkey did and what it failed to do is very clearly put forward in that report.

"This evaluation says that some positive steps taken about violence against women are important and refers to shortcomimgs and several institutional arrangements and practices that still need to be done.

"If Turkey withdraws from the convention now, it will lead the state to suffer a serious loss of trust on the international arena in terms of democracy and human rights. In Turkey, it will cause the struggle against male violence to lose pace. In some cases, it will even lead to deterioration in some gains.

"In order for us to be a country which 'has prevented violence against women,' as targeted by İstanbul Convention, there is a need for a serious mental transformation in terms of gender equality. It is actually where Turkey has the greatest difficulty. I think that this intention to give up on the convention is related with the inability to accept gender equality. In the third decade of 21st century, there is nothing acceptable about this."

(EMK/SD)