28 women killed, 25 sexually harassed in Turkey in January: NGO

ISTANBUL

Some 28 women were killed in January and 25 others were subjected to sexual violence, according to a report released on Feb. 4 by the Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu (We Will Stop Femicides Platform), a women’s rights organization that monitors violence against women.

According to data provided by the platform, 21 percent of the 28 women killed in January were murdered for making decisions regarding their own lives, while four percent of women were murdered for refusing to reunite with their former partners.

Of the 28 victims, in January, 43 percent of women were between 36 and 65 years old, 14 percent were older than 66, and 11 percent were between 25 and 35 years old.

Seven of these women were murdered by their husbands, two were murdered by their fathers and two were murdered by their sons. One woman was killed by her boyfriend and another one was killed by her ex-boyfriend, the organization stated. A majority of the women were killed at home, the report stated.

Istanbul saw four reported incidents of violence against women in January while the western province of Bursa, the eastern province of Gaziantep and the northern province of Samsun saw a total of six incidents, with two in each.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that 25 women had been subjected to sexual violence and 147 children had been sexually abused.

The platform said the total number of femicides fell slightly this month compared to the final months of 2017.

In 2017, a total of 409 women were killed and 387 children sexually abused in Turkey, according to data compiled by the same group.