At least 1915 women killed since 2010 in Turkey

According to data published on November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, at least 1915 women have been killed since 2010 in Turkey.

One in two women were killed by their boyfriends or husbands. At least 396 murders occurred during separation or divorce processes. In 355 murders, the women had been subjected to violence, harassment or threats beforehand. In at least 237 murders, the women had filed official complaints with fear for their safety beforehand.

Since 2010, the website kadincinayetleri.org maps the femicides reported in the media. The website was designed to objectively show when and where women have been killed, who killed them, what excuse was used and whether there were any negligence in the process leading up to the murders, and to participate in policies to prevent further murders.

As official numbers on femicides are not made public, according to murder numbers gathered from media organization bianet’s tally of male violence, 1193 perpetrators in the murder of 1915 women (62%) have been husbands, boyfriends, ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends. 213 women were killed by their fathers, sons or brothers. 114 women were killed at the hands of other male relatives.

A suspicion of infidelity, wanting a divorce, refusing the reconciliation attempts of the man and “honor”/”tradition” have been the most prominent excuses used by men to murder women. There are also excuses like, “She put tomato paste in the food”, “She made fun of the ‘manhood’ of the husband”, “She complained about the man” or “She didn’t give up the code for her phone lock” used to kill.

NO RECORDS IN BAYBURT

An excerpt from femicides according to cities and districts are as follows:

- Since 2010, 261 women have been killed in Istanbul alone.

- 139 women have been killed in İzmir, 105 in Ankara, 102 in Adana, 88 in Gaziantep, 81 in Antalya.

- Only the province of Bayburt has no records of any femicides in the last 8 years.

- The least amount of murders were in provinces of Artvin, Karabük, Gümüşhane, Tunceli and Bingöl.

KILLED BY FIREARMS

According to data gathered from news stories on the femicides, 1006 of the 1915 murders since 2010 have been with firearms. 1195 of the murders were committed in the woman’s, man’s or the families’ homes.