287 Turkish women murdered in first 10 months of 2014

Fevzi Kızılkoyun ANKARA

Some 287 women were murdered in the first 10 months of this year in Turkey, as additional clauses to the law on the protection of families are drafted.

Despite changes to laws, court rulings, restraining orders on guilty men, protection granted to exposed women, and the application of a panic button system, the number of murdered women has continued to rise in Turkey, surpassing previous years in the first 10 months of 2014 alone.

New clauses aimed at preventing violence against women are currently being drafted, to be added to the existing Law on the Protection of Family and the Prevention of Violence against Women. The most significant of the new additions is the introduction of a rehabilitation counseling option for men, alongside the existing legal punishments.

Men who resort to violence against their wives and do not have a place to go to after being banned from their homes with a court decision will be placed in shelters, where they will receive rehabilitation counseling, according to the new clauses. A report at the end of the rehabilitation process will decide whether or not the men are able to return to their homes.

Since the Law on the Protection of Family and the Prevention of Violence against Women was adopted in early 2012, almost 700 women have been killed in Turkey. Some 217 women were murdered in 2012, and 189 were murdered in 2013, and 287 have been murdered in just the first 10 months of 2013.