802 women in Turkey killed by domestic violence in five years

ISTANBUL

Women march to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Ankara and protest high levels of violence against women. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Some 136 women were killed in episodes of domestic violence in Turkey in the first nine of months of the year, raising the toll to 802 over the past five years, according to official numbers.

The data, which was released for Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, indicates that the issue remains at alarming levels despite all measures taken, according to a report from online news portal T24.

The government adopted the Law on the Protection of Family and the Prevention of Violence against Women last March, aiming to introduce major improvements to the protection system.

Thanks to the contribution of legislation, domestic violence cases dropped by 5 percent between March 2012 and January 2013. This year, however, 28,000 women have been exposed to violence in Turkey, while protective and preventive measures have been taken for 4,500 of them, according to official data.

More than 50,000 women have been protected from their husbands or partners with precautions such as restraining orders, mostly in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

As of May, the number of women under police protection due to domestic violence threat had surpassed 11,000.