Gov’t works on new reform to stop violence against women: Erdoğan

ISTANBUL

The government is working on a new reform package aiming to end violence against women, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, informing that good conduct abatement will not be automatically applied on suspects and that harsher sentences will be given in case of deliberate assaults against women.

“A drafted reform package on combating violence against women by the Justice Ministry has been completed. We will soon submit it to the parliament,” Erdoğan told at an event by the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) on March 4 in Istanbul.

“With the new regulation, any behavior of the perpetrators that do not contain a concrete expression of regret will not be accepted as a reason of good conduct abatement in cases of violence against women,” Erdoğan said.

Many women associations and civil societies were complaining that courts were applying good conduct abatement to the perpetrators when they appear before the court in suits and good behavior.

Wearing suits and ties as well as theatrics in a courtroom will no longer lead to a reduction in sentences, Erdoğan said, informing, “If crimes such as deliberate killing, deliberate injury and torture are committed against women, penalties will be increased even more. The lower limit of penalties to be given to the crimes of threat against a married or divorced spouse will be increased from six months to nine months.”

Persistent physically tracking and stalking a woman through social media means will be prosecuted with up to two years in prison, Erdoğan said, adding that in certain cases an arrest warrant may be issued for these crimes.

Hurting spouses or ex-spouses will be included in catalog crimes so that detention decisions will be much more facilitated, the president said. He also stressed victims will be able to ask for free-of-charge attorney assistance from the bar associations.

Recalling that Turkey has one of the most effective laws to protect women against violence, Erdoğan said: “Femicide rates in our country are lower than most European countries. However, we cannot consider ourselves to have done our duty until we fully eliminate these incidents.”