Male violence | ‘30 women killed in Turkey's east, southeast Anatolia in 10 months’

* Photo: İHD Amed Twitter account

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Today, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. On this occasion, the Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch's Women's Commission has released a report.

The report, covering the 10-month period from January to October 2021, focuses on the incidents of violence against women in Turkey's Kurdish-majority east and southeast Anatolia regions.

The İHD has announced that as a result of male violence within the family and in public sphere, 30 women were massacred and 37 women were suspiciously found dead in the east and southeast Anatolia.

Raising concerns about the increase in the number of women who committed suicide, the İHD report has noted that while 19 women committed suicide and lost their lives as a result in the past 10 months, seven other women also attempted to take their own lives in this period.

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Withdrawal from İstanbul Convention

The İHD Diyarbakır Branch has stated that since Turkey withdrew from the İstanbul Convention by a Presidential decision on March 19, 2021, 10 women have lost their lives after being subjected to violence within the family and six women have lost their lives due to the violence that they were subjected to in public sphere in the region.

"Similarly, since the termination of the İstanbul Convention, several women have suspiciously died and dozens of women have been wounded," the report has found, noting that "the termination of the convention has turned women into a target even more, giving power to the men to make them think that no matter what they do to women, it will end in impunity."

Referring to the court rulings in trials over male violence, it has indicated that "these show judgements support the violence-prone men's thought that they will not be penalized even if they inflict violence."

War and conflict

The İHD has emphasized that the ongoing wars in the Middle East have been affecting women and children the most:

As also experienced in the environment of war and chaos during the war in Syria, women, LGBTI+s and children are subjected to discrimination and several crimes such as abduction, sexual abuse, forced prostitution and tortute. Similarly, forced to migrate due to war, women and children, in refugee status in different countries, are subjected to racist, discriminatory attacks.

Referring to Turkey in this context, the İHD has said, "Not only in other countries, several similar policies are pursued in Turkey as well."

Raising concerns about "several incidents where law enforcement is involved, especially in Hakkari, Şırnak and Dersim, and into which no effective administrative or legal investigation is launched", the İHD has stressed that as a result of them, "several violations of rights against women such as forced prostitution and substance abuse become widespread."

Crimes where law enforcement is involved

The İHD has emphasized that especially in the east and southeast Anatolia, no penal sanctions are imposed in the incidents where law enforcement officers are involved, which encourages the perpetrators.

According to the İHD Diyarbakır Branch, "the policy of impunity brings about the fact that the law enforcement is now openly committing crimes, which makes people go through the hardest consequences."

The Association has said, "What began with Musas in the 1990s continues with Musa Orhans in the 2000s. As it can be seen in the toll, most of the injuries caused by violence in public sphere happened as a result of sexual violence, harassement and rape."

Concluding the report, the İHD has also raised concerns about the judicial harassment against women's rights defenders as well as the increasing violence against women within the family during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. (KÖ/SD)