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Turkey joins hands for fight against domestic violence
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is joining the “white ribbon campaign” to show his solidarity in combating violence against women in Turkey. The campaign, organized by the Ministry for Family and Social Policy and the Parliamentary Commission on Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, kicks off today. In the campaign, lawmakers who support the fight against violence against women will pin white ribbons on their collars.
The ministry and the parliamentary commission have also teamed up to draft the “We Are Also Here” declaration against domestic violence, which the general public can sign, starting today. Erdoğan was the first signature, followed by a number of lawmakers, athletes and artists in Turkey.
The Legal Support Center for Women (KAHDEM) laid out 29 tenets that it said must be included in what has been the much-discussed draft law to prevent violence against women.
KAHDEM, in a statement it released on Thursday, urged that the draft law, which was submitted to Parliament by the Ministry for Family and Social Policy, not only comply with international standards but also address everyday problems.
The law should include a statement that identifies discrimination and violence against women as a violation of women’s human rights, the first tenet said. KAHDEM also called for more regulation on early and forced marriages, and crimes against women in the digital environment. Every day an average of 33 women apply to women’s shelters across Turkey, the chairperson of the Turkish Confederation of Service Volunteers said during a panel discussion in İzmir on Thursday. The “Violence against Women” panel, organized by the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Women Branch in the Konak district, discussed Turkey’s continual struggle with violence against women in light of the national awareness day. Nezaket Atasoy, chairperson of the Confederation of Service Volunteers, told participants that, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), last month 597 women in İstanbul, 389 in Ankara and 196 in İzmir sought refuge in women’s shelters.
But Atasoy said there are only five shelters in İzmir, partly because they are seen as last resorts for the recovery of abuse victims. The number of women’s shelters must increase, Atasoy said.
Addressing the participants, Atasoy reminded them that 39.3 percent of women in Turkey have suffered from physical violence at some point in their lifetimes. According to TurkStat data, 31.3 percent of women in İzmir have experienced physical violence.
More than 15 percent of women in Turkey have been victims of sexual violence in. In the last year alone, that figure was 7 percent, she said.
Nearly 150 female members of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) protested the violence against and murders of women in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district on Thursday. The women were able to peacefully march down İstiklal Street without incident to mark Nov. 25, both National Domestic Violence Awareness Day and International Solidarity Day. KESK member Saadet Özsoy, delivering a press statement on behalf of the group, said the government acts insufficient in preventing violence against women in Turkey. Özsoy pointed to sentence reductions for perpetrators of domestic violence because of “unjust provocation” as wrong.
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