Fight fire with fire, NGO tells women

ANKARA - Radikal

Şefkat-Der says arming women is an effective way to combat violence. DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK

A Turkish non-governmental organization (NGO) is set to give free shooting courses at a gun range for women who were subjected to domestic violence.

Şefkat-Der has suggested arming women as an effective way to combat domestic violence. “The state should grant licensed, tax-free arms to women under vital threat to defend themselves in emergency situations and train them in close combat and weapons use,” said Hayrettin Bulan, the head of Şefkat-Der.

Purchasing guns in Turkey is easy, and it would serve to deter potential killers if women also posessed firearms, he said, adding they were also going to appeal to the Parliament, ministries and political parties to enact a motion that includes their suggestion to arm women.
The organization plans to appeal to Parliament, ministries and political parties to enact a motion that includes their suggestion to arm women, Bulan said.

“Shouldn’t women be able to protect themselves when there are no police or guards standing next to them? What is wrong with saying that women should learn how to operate arms to save their own lives by training on a range beforehand?” Bulan asked.

Şefkat-Der raised similar suggestions Nov. 25 on the Struggle against Violence toward Women Day and other occasions.

“You can engage in acts aimed at wounding your husband with a knife or a gun, such as hitting or cutting across his wrist, so as to make it difficult for him to abuse you again…If you believe you will not be able to deliver yourself from death by causing injury, then you can also opt to neutralize [killing or critically wounding] the potential killer before he kills you,” Şefkat-Der said.

Figures from the We Will Stop Women’s Murders platform show about 160 women in Turkey were murdered by relatives such as family members, lovers or spouses, in 2011.

A total of 179 women are known to have been raped in 2011 and another 70 allegedly committed suicide, although three of them were later found to have been murdered as well.

The rate of women murdered by their husbands had increased by nearly 200 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to reports.