48 women killed last month in Türkiye, highest in 14 years: Report

ISTANBUL

Forty-eight women fell victim to femicide in October in Türkiye, marking the highest monthly toll since 2010, reveals a report published by a women’s association.

Of these 48 women, 10 were murdered due to reasons such as seeking divorce, rejecting reconciliation, refusing marriage proposals or declining romantic involvement, We Will Stop Femicide Platform said in a report released on Nov. 5.

October saw the highest monthly number in the past 14 years, with 40 percent of the perpetrators being victims' spouses. More than half of the victims were killed in their own homes, the report said.

As femicide continues to escalate in Türkiye, a disturbing trend persists where the majority of these murders are perpetrated by intimate partners.

In the first half of 2024, a total of 166 women in Türkiye have fallen victim to femicide, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya earlier said.

The nation was recently shaken by two brutal femicides committed at the beginning of October, underscoring the growing gravity of the issue.

Nineteen-year-old Semih Çelik brutally killed two girls of his age within half an hour of each other, dismembering the body of one of the victims. The murderer then committed suicide by jumping off the Edirnekapı city walls.

The incident has provoked widespread public indignation, further fueled by an upsurge in crime rates, particularly in Istanbul, as several other criminal incidents recently took place across the country.

Last month, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç remarked that comprehensive reforms in Türkiye’s penal execution system will dismantle the public perception that certain crimes go unpunished.