Men Kill 23 Women in January
Graphic: Yağmur Karagöz
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
According to the news compiled by bianet from local and national newspapers, news websites and agencies, men killed at least 23 women and four men who were with the women in the first month of 2019. While one of the murdered women was Hande Kader Şeker, a transgender woman living in İzmir, another was Esra A., who was also a trans woman from İstanbul.
Men raped four women, forced five women to sex work and harassed seven women. Men also sexually abused 10 girls and inflicted violence or injury on at least 27 women in January 2019.
Two femicides committed by men in December 2018* were also reported in the news in January 2019.
In January 2019, four women also suspiciously died. In three of the femicides committed in the first month of this year, the offenders could not be identified.
Men attempted to kill four women and one child. The murderers of two migrant children from Afghanistan could not be identified.
Murder
The news compiled by bianet from local and national newspapers, news websites and agencies have shown that men killed at least 23 women and four men who were with the women in January 2019.
In the same month last year, men murdered at least 13 women, two children and two men who were with the women when they were killed.
While one of the women murdered in January 2019 was from Azerbaijan, one of them was from Syria and another one from Afghanistan. In the first month of 2019, it was also reported that two trans women from İzmir and İstanbul were killed. The murderer of one trans woman was a police officer.
In Sakarya, M.H. (75) with Alzheimer's disease battered her mother Lütfiye Harbacı (100). The woman lost her life after falling as a result of battery. As this murder was not gender-oriented, we have not included it in the male violence monitoring report of January 2019. We will include it in the 2019 year-end male violence monitoring report.
The names of killed women
Ceren Damar, Emine Çakır, Esma Kurt, Esra A., Fatma Özdemir, Fatma Tangaz, Ganıra Cabbarova, Gül K., H.İ., Hande Buse Şeker, Hürü Açık, İbite Sem El K., Kader Erenuluğ, Kübra Olgun Şahin, Leyla Avcı, Menekşe Ay, Parwin M., Rabia Ezer, Rava Kallajo, Serpil Erdoğan, Sibel Dudaklı, Sibel G., Suzan Keleş.
Provinces where murders were committed
Adana (2), Ankara (2), Bartın (1), Burdur (1), Bursa (1), Edirne (1), Hatay (1), İstanbul (2), İzmir (2), Kırşehir (1), Kocaeli (1), Kütahya (1), Malatya (2), Manisa (1), Mersin (1), Muğla (1), Osmaniye (1), Urfa (1).
Men killed four of the women because they wanted to divorce/break up while they murdered four women on the pretext of jealousy. One woman was killed after she warned one of her students for cheating during an exam, one woman was killed because her daughter wanted to have a divorce and one woman was murdered for allegedly doing sex work. The reason why 11 of the deceased women were killed was not reported in the news.
Men killed seven of the women in public places such as a campus, car park, bar or street while they killed 16 of them in her or her family's home. In at least two cases, it was later understood that men wanted to make their murders look like a suicide.
While eight of the murderers were husbands of the women, two women were killed by their boyfriends. Four women were killed by their own family members (one woman by her father, one woman by her son and two women by their brothers). Two women were killed by their sons-in-law, one of them by a male acquaintance, one of them by a police officer and one woman by a client of hers. The form of acquaintance/relationship between one woman and the murderer was not reported in the news.
Men killed 10 women with a firearm such as a shotgun/pistol and murdered nine women with a knife. While one woman was tortured to death, one woman was killed by being strangled. It was not reported in the news how two women were killed.
Some details from the murders
Police officer A.D., who murdered transgender woman Hande Buse Şeker, also injured her friend N.Y., who was also a trans woman.
The man who killed Ramize Ezer in Hatay was convicted of another crime.
The man who killed Kübra Olgun Şahin in Edirne tortured the woman throughout their marriage (they had been married for a month).
The man who killed Esra A. in İstanbul robbed her money afterwards.
|
Judicial process Ten of the men who murdered women were taken into custody. Four men were arrested, one man committed suicide and one man gave himself over to the police. Two of the perpetrators were reported in the news as "fugitive" of "wanted". The judicial process of five offenders was not reported in the news. |
Rape
In the first month of 2019, men raped four women. In the same month last year, men raped five women.
While one of the women raped by men in January 2019 was sight-disabled, one of them was a transgender woman.
Provinces where rapes were committed
Ardahan (1), İstanbul (1), Muğla (1), Trabzon (1).
While one of the perpetrators was the neighbor of the woman, one of them was her friend and two of them were male strangers. Three of the rapes were committed at home and one rape was committed in a park.
|
Judicial process One of the offenders was arrested and two of them were detained. No legal action was taken against one perpetrator; moreover, the transgender woman who went to the police station to file a criminal complaint against the offender was subjected to a homophobic verbal attack by police officers. |
Forced sex work
Men forced at least five women to sex work in January 2019. This figure was nine in January 2018. At least two of the women were under the age of 17 and one woman was mentally disabled.
Provinces where women were forced to sex work
Adıyaman (1), Edirne (1), Samsun (2), Tekirdağ (1).
|
Judicial process All of the six offenders were arrested. |
Harassment
Men harassed at least seven women in the first month of 2019. Last January, 12 harassment cases were recorded, with two of them being cyber harassment cases that were video-recorded by women.
Four women who were subjected to harassment did not know the perpetrators. One perpetrator was a doctor. One woman customer was harassed in a store.
Two cases of unwanted touching, two cases of cyber harassment and four cases of verbal harassment were recorded in January.
Provinces where rapes were committed
Antalya (1), Bursa (1), İzmir (1), Samsun (1), Tekirdağ (2).
|
Judicial process Out of ten perpetrators, five were released after deposition. One perpetrator was released pending trial. Four men who harassed women were arrested. |
Child abuse
In January, men abused 10 girls, one of them was a Syrian refugee.
Four girls were harassed by men whom they did not know, two by men whom they know. One girl was harassed by the principal of the high school she studies at, one by her step-father and one by her friends.
The provinces where men abused children
Adana (1), Bursa (1), Hatay (1), İzmir (4), Kütahya (1), Malatya (1), Muğla (1).
Five cases happened in public places such as markets, schools, streets, one happened in a vehicle and one in an abandoned building.
|
Judicial process There were 13 perpetrators who sexually abused girls. The perpetrator who was the step-father of the child was killed by the girl's mother. Eight perpetrators were arrested. Three men were detained, one was released after deposition. |
Violence, Injury
Men committed violence against at least 27 women in January. More than one of them were transgender women. One of them was Ukrainian. Two men who were with the women at the time of the incidents were also injured by the perpetrator men.
In one case, violence caused more violence. In Tekirdağ province, M.Ş. battered his wife H.Ş. (18) at home. After the incident, H.Ş. left the house and began to live with her family. H.Ş.'s father V.E. and brother T.E. went M.Ş.'s family's home. V.E. killed Mahsun Şengül and his father Ömer Şengül. V.E. and T.E. was detained after the incident.
Provinces where men committed violence against women
Ankara (2), Antalya (2), Balıkesir (1), Bursa (2), Diyarbakır (2), Edirne (2), Hatay (1), İstanbul (4), Kilis (2), Konya (2), Malatya (1), Maraş (1), Samsun (1), Tekirdağ (1), Tokat (1), Zonguldak (1).
Women did not know at least four perpetrators. At least six women were subjected to violence by her husband and four by their fiance or boyfriends. At least three perpetrators were family members. One was the father, and one was the brother of the women.
One woman was battered by her mother-in-law and one by her son-in-law. One perpetrator who committed violence against trans women was a watchman and one perpetrator who committed violence against women was a conscript.
14 of the women were battered at home, 13 in public places such as forested lands, traffic queues, streets.
Men's excuses for the violence they committed were reported as wives' demands for divorce in three cases, the daughter's demand for divorce in one case, the mother saying, "Son, study your lesson," in one case, paying the check in one case, meeting her mother in one case.
One man committed violence against a woman despite a suspension warrant against him.
|
Judicial process Media reported at least 34 perpetrators who committed violence against women. One perpetrator was killed by the father of the woman whom he committed violence against, and one was killed by the woman whom he committed violence against. Eight men were detained, an investigation was launched against eight of men, three men were arrested, one was released upon judicial control. One man was released, one was sentenced to 40 days in prison, who is being tried for burning the home of the woman whom he committed violence against. |
|
Explanation The bianet Male Violence Monitoring Report only covers women who lost their lives as a result of male violence. 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." We add the violence committed on children by men, to make the extent of violence visible. |
*In Düzce province, Ö.D. killed his girlfriend Dilek Dağdelen (34) on December 18, 2018. He committed suicide after the murder. The murder was revealed after Dilek Dağdelen's body was found in a forest. The investigation into the murder is continuing.
In Edirne, it was revealed that H.U. suffocated his daughter Didem Uslu to death on December 14, 2018. H.U. reportedly dismantled the body and buried it forested land. H.U. and S.U., the mother of the girl, were arrested. (EMK/SD/VK)