173 women killed in Turkey in first five months of 2017: Report

ISTANBUL

Some 173 women were killed by men in the first five months of 2017, according to a report released by a women’s rights activist organization on June 5.

The report from women’s rights organization “We Will Stop Femicide” stated that 39 women were killed in May, more than any other month.

The organization also stated that 38 children and 17 women were sexually abused in May.

Previously, 137 women were killed by men in the first five months of 2016, meaning that there was a significant increase in the first five months of 2017.

In May 2017 six women were killed in Istanbul province, five were killed in the Aegean province of İzmir, and three were killed in the Marmara province of Bursa, the southeastern province of Gaziantep and central Anatolian province of Kayseri, according to the report.  

“Women are tortured. They are killed in front of their children or with them. Unexpected death cases are also increasing, while some barbaric practices have been used to kill women such as even placing explosives in houses … All of these are symptoms of increasing misogyny,” stated the report. 

The report also noted that news reports about killing of women in the Turkish media were decreasing even though the number of such murders are increasing.   

Some 4,090 news reports about violence against women were published in the first 100 days of 2016, while 2,044 news reports about violence against women were published in the first 100 days of 2017, according to the report.

“This fall in press reports, even as violence against women was increasing, is another sign of violence against women. The closure of a number of media outlets and restrictions in press freedom in Turkey likely played a role in this situation,” stated the report.

It also claimed that cases of abuse against children had been closed by prosecutors even before they were opened. 

“In one case, a 16-year-old child wrote about abuse by his father in a school writing project. His counsellor transmitted the incident to prosecutors. But the Children Monitoring Committee issued a report on the issue claiming that the child was schizophrenic. The prosecutors closed the case before it was opened,” the report stated.