20 women killed despite state protection: Turkish Interior Ministry

ANKARA

AP photo

A total of 20 women were killed while under temporary state protection between 2015 and 2017, the Turkish Interior Ministry has announced. 

The women, who were taken under protection due to serious threats to their lives from men, were killed before they could notify police due to “events that unfolded suddenly.”

The ministry announced the numbers regarding violence against women upon a parliamentary question by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul lawmaker Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi to Family and Social Policies Ministry. İlgezdi also requested that the ministry announce the financial aid given to protected women over the last five years.

According to the ministry, nearly 42,000 women were taken under temporary state protection in 2016. 

The statistics showed that an average of 358 women a day applied to law enforcement officers after suffering violence in 2016. After the evaluations of the application, 41,955 women whose lives were determined to be under threat were taken under protection. 

The numbers revealed that around five women every hour, or 115 a day, were faced with the threat of murder.

According to the ministry, 20 women were killed while under on-call state protection during the period in question. The women failed to receive assistance because they were unable to contact police before being murdered by men.

The ministry also said a total of 506,138 Turkish Liras of temporary financial aid has been provided to 795 victims of violence in the last five years. In addition, 14,220 children staying with their mothers in women’s guesthouses benefited from nursery and children’s clubs between 2013 and 2016. 

As part of the Law on Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence against Women, nearly 637 liras were given to each woman, according to the statistics.  

The Umut Foundation, which was established with the purpose of battling individual armed violence in Turkey, released statistics regarding violence against women on International Women’s Day, showing that 397 women were killed in Turkey last year.

A total of 317 women were killed with weapons in 2016, a slight increase over the 309 women killed with weapons – out of a total of 413 – in 2015.

In many cases, women do not seek help from authorities because they see little use in doing so, according to the foundation. There are also cases in which women have applied to authorities but have been returned home and forced to reconcile with their partners before being subjected to even more violence.

The Umut Foundation collects statistics on women’s murders to provide information to politicians, nongovernmental organizations and scholars who wish to stop the increasing trend of violence against women in Turkey.