Parliament passes bill for violence against women, health staff

ANKARA

The Turkish Parliament late on May 12 approved a bill on the prevention of violence against women and health care workers.

Violence against women and healthcare professionals was classified as a “catalog” crime, thus those perpetrators will be subject to pre-trial detention.

According to the law, acts without regret will no longer be considered grounds for discretionary discount. Perpetrators will not be able to benefit from a reduction in sentence due to what is known as good conduct time, meaning there will be no penalty reduction for good behavior at hearings, such as wearing a suit and tie.

While the penalties for wilful wounding and killing, threats and torture have been increased in order to effectively combat violence against women, the life sentence for wilful murder has been changed to aggravated life imprisonment.

Under the law, stalking is considered, for the first time, a crime. Persistent pursuit is frequently on the agenda in cases of violence against women.

Accordingly, those who persistently cause uneasiness, physically or through third parties and through the means of communication and cause them to worry about the safety of themselves or their relatives will be sentenced to six months to two years in prison.

If the crime of stalking is committed against a child or ex-spouse, the penalty given will be one to three years in prison.