Turkey fails in fighting violence against woman

Algan (42), had become obsessed with Ulus (24), tracked her down to Ardahan, where she had been assigned for work, and butchered her with a cleaver for not reciprocating his feelings. It later came to light that Ulus had filed a complaint against her stalker while she was still living in İstanbul. Despite the complaint, Algan -- whose rap sheet includes stabbing a woman in 2004 and who was wanted for homicide -- was able to track her down and even rent a room at a hotel using a fake ID where he literally hunted her for a month.

Sadly, Ulus is not the only example where state authorities failed to save a woman’s life despite prior warning. She was laid to rest on March 13, one day after another violent incident in Adana, where Yasin İlbaş started knocking loudly on the door of his ex-wife, Cemile Seçil Sansür, and ex-mother-in-law Gülten Sansür’s (43) house, demanding to see the couple’s 18-month-old daughter. The two women called police, who came and left the scene, saying it was an “intra-family” matter. İlbaş returned about 30 minutes later with a gun and shot the two women. Cemile Seçil Sansür was severely injured, while Gülten Sansür died during the shooting. The family has sworn to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), blaming police negligence for the incident. On March 15, a butcher cut off the nose and ears of his pregnant wife, identified as Aysun K., in Bingöl in retaliation for Aysun complaining to the police of persistent domestic violence.

Turkey’s ECtHR conviction

Gökçe Kartaler, a volunteer from the Mor Çatı (Purple Roof) Women’ Shelter, says that although the laws in place are not bad, there are major problems in their implementation. Recalling that Turkey has been found guilty by the ECtHR of failing to protect its female citizens who have applied to authorities for protection from violence and abuse, Gökçe says new institutions that would extend the capacity of social service providers and security forces in the country should be formed.

“The state in Turkey cannot protect those women who apply to authorities for protection from violence. But in fact, ensuring the safety of women is the state’s duty according to the Constitution, the law and international agreements to which Turkey is a party.”

In June of last year, the ECtHR ruled for the first time in its history against a state for overlooking a domestic violence case. The court said that Turkey failed to sufficiently prosecute a man who abused his wife and murdered his mother-in-law. Nahide Opuz, the murdered woman’s daughter, has been pursuing the case since 1995, when her stepfather and husband began to beat her and threaten her mother. The Turkish police, however, repeatedly overlooked the case. When her husband finally stabbed and shot Nahide’s mother to death, his life sentence was reduced to a three-year term by a Turkish court on appeal. In its verdict, the ECtHR ruled that the Turkish court was guilty of “judicial passivity” in this case and had violated articles 2, 3, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judge required the Turkish state to pay $41,700 to Nahide in damages.

Social services units needed

Kartaler says that following Turkey’s conviction at the ECtHR, a protocol was signed between the Interior Ministry and the Ministry for Women and Family Affairs. However, there have been problems executing it. “According to the protocol, when a woman goes to a police station, the officers have to file records without demanding proof of violence. If the woman doesn’t want to go home, she should be referred to a women’s shelter. However, the police rarely fulfill their responsibility.”

However, the police department is not the sole culprit, Kartaler says. The Social Services and Child Protection Agency is also badly equipped to handle domestic violence cases. She stresses that there should a 24-hour unit dealing only with domestic violence complaints. The police do not have a social services agency to which they can direct a victim of domestic abuse outside of work hours. Police officers are also uninformed about what course they should take when confronted with a domestic violence complaint. “Many security officers have no idea what to do in such cases. They do not know that they should notify prosecutors.”

Keeping in-house social services experts in police stations could remedy the problem, in addition to a 24-hour service dealing only with domestic violence issues.