3 mln women downloaded KADES emergency support app

ANKARA / KOCAELİ

KADES, an emergency support application for women which directs security units to the place of violence in just minutes upon notification, has been downloaded by more than 3 million women since 2018, the country’s interior minister has said.

“This year, we aim to teach men across the country to practice self-restraint in order to put an end to domestic violence,” Süleyman Soylu said in a conference called “2022 National Plan: Fight With Violence Against Women.”

According to data obtained from Soylu, besides KADES, security units also had some 279,000 notifications from women calling for help in these three years. “We have also set up special bureaus in police departments of all 81 provinces to combat violence against women,” he added.

“The number of femicides in the country was 268 in 2020. It made a 15 percent increase in 2021, reaching 307,” Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık said in a conference organized by her ministry.

Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül was another participant in the conference. “Our ministry established some 215 offices for investigating domestic violence and femicides,” Gül highlighted.

Giving information to the public about girls’ education, Education Minister Mahmut Özer said, “Since 2014, the number of female students started rising, and as of 2021, it has surpassed the number of male students.”

Another woman ‘falls from balcony’

The conference was held at a time when the country was shocked by the news of a new “accidental fall of a woman” from a balcony.

Sedef Nur Çağlar, 23 years old, was alleged to have “fallen from an apartment’s balcony on the 7th floor” in the northwestern province of Kocaeli. The university student is struggling between life and death in the ICU of a state hospital.

According to media reports, she and her boyfriend visited a friend’s house late on Jan. 9. They all drank alcohol until the early hours of Jan. 10, when “all of a sudden,” she and her boyfriend started to quarrel.

“It was around 6 a.m. when she jumped from the balcony,” her boyfriend alleged in his first police testimony.

The ongoing police investigation will clarify if Çağlar jumped or was pushed from the balcony instead.