MALE VIOLENCE MONITORING REPORT MAY 2026
Men killed 14 women in May
According to news compiled by bianet from local and national newspapers, news websites, and news agencies, men killed at least 14 women and two children in May.
Men injured at least 46 women, abused at least 13 girls and boys, and harassed 18 women in May. Men forced 106 women into sex work.
In May, the deaths of 43 women and seven children were “suspecious” cases where it could not be definitvely determined whether they were gender-based or not.
Suspicious deaths of women reported in the press in May
Aksaray (1), Ankara (1), Antalya (2), Aydın (2), Bartın (1), Bilecik (1), Bursa (2), Burdur (1), Çankırı (1), Çorum (1), Denizli (1), Elazığ (1), Gümüşhane (1), Hakkari (1), Isparta (1), İstanbul (6), Karabük (1), Karaman (2), Kocaeli (1), Konya (1), Malatya (1), Mardin (3), Mersin (1), Muğla (1), Samsun (2), Urfa (3), Van (1), Yalova (1), Zonguldak (1)
Suspicious child deaths reported in the press in May
Antalya (1), Balıkesir (1), Denizli (1), Diyarbakır (1), Kastamonu (1), Samsun (1), Urfa (1)
Femicide
Men killed at least 14 women in May. Last year, this number was 26 for the same month.
Names of women killed by men in May
Alev Y., Amine Bozkurt, Arzu Özden, Ayten Öztürk, Demet B., Derya Ç., Fatma Karakaya, Gülden K., Kübra Yapıcı, Leyla K., Maya Ülker, Nazife Çiğdem D., Nurgül A., Zehra Aydın.
Men killed five women because they refused to reconcile. They also killed one woman out of jealousy. The excuses given by the men for killing eight women were not reported in the press.
Nine women were killed by their husbands, boyfriends, or ex-husbands, and four women were killed by family members such as their sons and fathers. The identity of the man who killed one woman was not reported in the media.
Men killed 11 women inside the home and three women outside the home.
Men killed 10 women with firearms, three women with sharp objects, and one woman by beating her to death.
Provinces where men killed women
Ağrı (1), Antalya (2), Aydın (1), Çanakkale (1), Elazığ (1), Hatay (1), İstanbul (1), Kayseri (1), Kırklareli (1), Konya (2), Malatya (1), Sakarya (1)
Legal proceedings
Kadınları öldüren en az 15 fail vardı. 11 fail erkek tutuklandı. Üç fail intihar etti. Bir fail kaçtı.
Femicides solved in May
Muazzez Bayhan (43), a woman who went missing last year in Konya, was shot in the head and killed by her ex-husband, M.T. (46), who had escaped while on leave from prison, and her body was buried in a riverbed. It emerged that the arrested man has over 40 criminal records and a 22-year prison sentence that has been finalized.
Farkhondeh Ghaem Maghami (68), an Iranian citizen who had been reported missing in Istanbul since April 11, was found dead in Kırşehir. Three suspects—E.B., M.A., and S.G.—were taken into custody in connection with the incident. The investigation is ongoing. It was determined that a man named E.B. (49), who had a relationship with the woman, strangled her to death following an argument and then dumped her lifeless body on a piece of land in Kırşehir.
Ayşen Aycan B. (21), a woman who went missing in Denizli in 2016, was found to have been beaten to death by her ex-husband, T.B. (40), and buried in an empty field. The man, who confessed to the murder, was arrested.
Child murder
In May, men killed at least two children. Last year, this number was one for the same month.
One child was killed by his father, who strangled them inside the home. The degree of acquaintance between the man and a child he killed was not reported in the media. He killed the child outside the home with a sharp object.
Names of the children killed by men
Poyraz Tekin T., Doruk Efe B.
Provinces where men killed children
Hatay (1), Elazığ (1).
Legal proceedings
There were two male suspects who killed the children. They were arrested.
Harassment
In May, men harassed at least 18 women. This figure was 16 in the same month last year.
Men harassed one woman inside her home and 17 women outside the home.
One woman was harassed by a cleaning worker, one by a relative, one by a government employee, and nine by a man staying at the same boarding house. The degree of acquaintance between the man and at least six of the women he harassed was not reported in the media.
Provinces where men harassed women
İstanbul (3), Samsun (1), Zonguldak (2), Diyarbakır (1), Muğla (9), Bolu (1), Yozgat (1).
Legal proceedings
There were 11 male perpetrators who harassed women. Three perpetrators were arrested. Three perpetrators were taken into custody. Legal action was initiated against five perpetrators.
Sexual assault/Rape
In May, two men raped two women. One woman was raped by a relative, and the other by her ex-boyfriend.
Province where men raped women
Ankara (1), Artvin (1).
Legal proceedings
There were two perpetrators who raped the women. Both perpetrators were arrested.
Child abuse
Men abused at least 14 girls and boys in May. Last year, this number was 50 for the same month.
Men abused children outside the home, in places such as schools and parks.
Four children were abused by their father or stepfather, and three by a grocery store clerk. One child was abused by his mother’s boyfriend. The identities of the 42 perpetrators who abused at least six children were not reported in the media.
Provinces where men abused children
Ankara (1), Antep (2), Bartın (1), Denizli (3), İstanbul (2), İzmir (2), Samsun (1), Zonguldak (2)
Legal proceedings
There were at least 49 perpetrators who abused children. At least 37 perpetrators were arrested. Three perpetrators were taken into custody. Investigations were launched against two perpetrators. The cases involving four perpetrators were not reported in the media.
Violence/Injury
Men injured at least 46 women in May. Last year, the number was 68 for the same month. Police officers were among the perpetrators.
At least nine women were taken to the hospital with injuries.
At least 28 women were injured by their husbands or boyfriends, six by their sons-in-law or sons, one by her boss, one by a coworker, and one by a taxi driver. The identities of the men who injured at least nine women were not reported in the media.
Men injured at least six women because they “did not want to reconcile or wanted to break up.” The excuses given by men for injuring 40 women were not reported in the media.
Men injured 22 women inside the home and 24 women outside the home.
Men injured 30 women by beating them, 12 women with firearms, and four women with sharp objects.
Provinces where men inflicted violence on women
Afyon (1), Aksaray (1), Aydın (4), Burdur (1), Bursa (2), Denizli (1), Diyarbakır (1), Edirne (15), İstanbul (10), İzmir (1), Kayseri (2), Kocaeli (2), Malatya (2), Sakarya (1), Samsun (2), Urfa (1)
Legal proceedings
There were at least 48 perpetrators of violence against women. Only four perpetrators were arrested. Investigations were launched against at least 20 perpetrators. Six perpetrators fled. Nine perpetrators were taken into custody. A court order for judicial supervision was issued against one perpetrator. The legal proceedings involving at least eight perpetrators were not reported in the media.
Forced sex work
In May, men forced at least 106 women into sex work. Last year, this number was 277 for the same month. Children were also among those forced into sex work.
Provinces where women were forced into sex work
Çankırı (5), Malatya (10), Mersin (67), Sakarya (10), Tekirdağ (14)
Legal proceedings
There were 31 perpetrators who forced women into sex work. Twenty-nine of them were arrested.
Explanation
bianet Male Violence Monitoring Report only covers women who lost their lives as a result of male violence reported in the press.
We do not 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. We add the gender-based incidents into the report.
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.
Occupations of the offenders only included in the reports when the incident of violence is related to the occupation of the offender. For example, "Woman was murdered at home by his husband, who is a professional soldier."
(EMK/VK)
Editor of Bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news section (Oct 2018–Feb 2025). Previously worked as a Bianet intern between 2000 and 2001. Reported for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, DİHA, Jinha, Jin News, and İMC TV. Also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her articles and news reports have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and various industry magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a magazine focused on Hemşin culture.
She contributed to several books, including Portraits of Women from the Black Sea: From Green to Blue, The Basket on Her Back, and Media and Lies. Winner of the Musa Anter Journalism Award (2011) and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award (2024).
A founding member of the Turkish Journalists’ Union’s Women and LGBTI+ Commission, she currently serves as a board member of the union’s İstanbul Branch (2023–2027).
She holds degrees in European Union studies from İstanbul University and international relations from Bilgi University. She organizes workshops on gender-sensitive journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. Since Feb 2025, she has been working as a women's news editor.
WOMEN'S AGENDA
Two women killed in 19 seconds: Why did the court not rule premeditation?
Trial begins for murder of journalist Hakan Tosun
Singer Mabel Matiz acquitted in 'obscenity' case over song lyrics
Men killed 28 women in April
May Day in İstanbul: Hundreds detained in Taksim, crowds gather in its shadow in Kadıköy
