WUNRN
Women
chanted slogans in protest of violence against women. Domestic violence is a
major concern in
July 12, 2014 - Istanbul
- On a single day three women were murdered by their husband in
The rate of murders of women in
Incidents that often start as a simple quarrel end up with the husband killing
his wife, 54 percent of the time by gunshot. Other cases involve other weapons
such as the recent incident on July 2, when an 81-year-old man identified as
Ali Kahraman killed his 74-year-old wife, Adalet Kahraman, with an axe in the
Yakutiye district of the eastern
Sunday's Zaman spoke with Gülsüm Kav, a representative and founding member of
the We Will Stop the Murders of Women Platform. When asked why the number of
murders of women is increasing in
She added: The problem stems from women taking hold of their modern rights in
a culture of male dominance. Right now,
According to Kav, the general Turkish female population does not have the
support of the government. Instead, she said, men believe that what they are
doing is accepted rather than reprimanded by the government.
A major concern for many representatives of women's organizations is the way
the government is treating the issue. Family and Social Policies Minister
Ayşenur İslam made statements last week concerning the murders of
women last week after the killings of three women in one day. She said women
who had received protection from government shelters were not killed.
Yet, the fact is that13 women killed this year were under government
protection. In many cases, the husbands of women in shelters have been able to
track them down.
In response to İslam's statement, Kav said: How can she not count these
deaths? Is she trying to say to the families that have lost their daughters
that they do not count? This is a lie.
Rather than suggest solutions to better protect women in danger, İslam in
her press statement sought to absolve the government of its responsibility in
the matter. Although she condemned the men for murdering their wives,
İslam stated that the punishments for crimes against women are
sufficiently harsh.
Sunday's Zaman also spoke with Gönül Karahanoğlu, chairwoman of the
Association for the Support and Training of Women Candidates (KA.DER), an
organization that defends equal representation of women and men in all fields
of life with a focus on political representation. When asked about her thoughts
on the minister's statements last week, she responded: It's not about someone
saying, Someone please save me,' and then the government goes and protects
them.
The issue is not that superficial. We are not saying the government
isn't trying to provide for the women who are looking for safety, but [the
government is] not hitting the mark.
According to her, the problem is more fundamental and the measures taken by the
government are not preventative ones. Instead, the government is more concerned
about sustaining families, while women are looking for ways out of being
repressed by their husbands.
Women's Shelters
Mor Çatı Women's Shelter Foundation representative Esen
Özdemir talked to Sunday's Zaman about state shelter protection for women,
saying: What the government understands as protection of women is actually to
jail them, to take control of their phones, to record the times they come and
go. They are imprisoning the women instead of punishing the men. So, of course,
it is very easy to kill these women. Second, the government works with such a
mechanism that they actually report whether a woman is being given shelter or
not. They do not say which shelter the wives are in, but it is very easy for
the men to find their wives.
Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci, from nongovernmental organization Women for
Women's Human Rights, told Sunday's Zaman that women's murders are the epitome
of what the patriarchal social structure brings. But, unfortunately, it's not
the only reflection of how women's rights are being violated in
Violence against women is a very deep problem in
The conclusion one draws after listening to these experts on women's issues in