“Men Against the Abortion Ban” marched across Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district on Sunday to express the reasons why they oppose the controversial proposal by government officials to ban abortion.

Officials from the United Nations Population Fund stress that the causes lying behind abortion cannot be resolved through legal prohibition or moral denunciation and call instead for greater access to birth control methods, introducing courses on sexual health in schools and strengthening the status of women.

Earlier in the week, the website Bianet jumped into a campaign - called "Benim Kararım," or "my decision." The campaign called for women to assert their rights and for men to show solidarity by getting people to send in pictures of themselves either holding signs or writing on their bodies.

Women called on authorities to ease access to birth control methods rather than banning abortion and for the perpetrators of the Roboski massacre to be put to trial during a protest rally in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district on Sunday.

Minister of Health Recep Akdağ announced they would prepare ‘report on abortion’ with the instruction of the Prime Minister.

"Every Abortion is Uludere" said Prime Minister Erdoğan at AKP Women's Branch Congress.

‘Male violence is murder, abortion is the choice of women’ told women protesting the recent statement of Prime Minister Erdoğan on abortion.

Indicted husband who threatened to kill Ayşe Yılbaş “on a Friday at the time of the call to prayer” and killed this way, is punished with aggravated life sentence.

On International Day against Homophobia, Amnesty International Turkey Branch, KAOS GL and Pink Life Association will send 50.000 signatures collected against homophobia to Prime Minister.

The indicted husband in Şefika Etik case is punished with aggravated life sentence. “We hope this decision will reduce the number of incidences of violence against women” told Lawyer Aktaş.

According to data collected by bianet, 9 women and a child were killed by men in April; 17 women, 2 girls and a man injured; 10 women raped; 11 women harrassed. Most of the women murdered in April were killed by their husbands.

Eğitim-Sen protested the lasting male violence despite of the new act for violence against women that entered into force in March.

“There was the decision of acquittal due to lack of evidence although the statement of the victim woman was verified with concrete evidences” says Cevriye Aydın, Lawyer of Fethiye case. The decision will be appealed.

Ülker from Women's Solidarity Foundation, Taylı from Organization of Women's Shelters, Ömür Yılmaz from KAHDEM (Central Organization for Women Legal Support) and Nihal Yakın from Women's Solidarity Association of Izmir participated to AWID and talked about “Improving concrete proposals and feminist policies for the violence against women”.

The European Parliament accepted Emine Bozkurt's report on the "2020 Perspective for Women in Turkey". The report will be discussed at the European Parliament General Assembly in May.

The Diyarbakır Bar Association decided for a warning penalty for the lawyer who referred to 'honour' regarding the murder of Gülitan Gümüş and said "The killed woman was not innocent". Lawyer Kanar appreciated the decision although it came with delay.

Lawyer Eyüboğlu said after the second hearing of the trial related to Şefika Etik who was killed by her husband, "Today we witnessed the same woman story we see all the time. We believe that the court decides for a life sentence, but that won't bring Şefika back".

Thousands of women took the streets of Istanbul on the International Women's Day meeting to call for the end of violence against women, for making their labour visible and to give an end to taking women into custody and arrest.

On International Women's Day, journalists Nadire Mater, Prof. Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, and actresses Yeşim Büber and Asiye Dinçsoy discussed the "sexist state of the media".

The Turkish Parliament unanimously approved the "Draft Bill to Protect the Family and for the Prevention of Violence against Women" in their session on 8 March.