Lawyer Arslan: Femicides are political

Amed Bar Association Women's Rights Center member, lawyer Rozerin Arslan, drew attention to the increasing massacres of women and added that the "unjust reduction of sentences for provocation" granted to men is impunity and actually encourages violence.

Lawyer Rozerin Arslan, member of the Amed Bar Association Women's Rights Center Board of Directors, said that the impunity approach of the judiciary confirms the finding that femicides are political.

Speaking to ANF, lawyer Rozerin Arslan said that if women resort to self-defense, the judiciary makes decisions that the limit of legitimate defense is exceeded. Arslan said: “We see that there is a distinction between men and women at the hearings. When it is a man, the judiciary applies unfair ‘provocation justifications’ and good behaviour to give reductions in sentences.”

Arslan added: “This attitude actually favours impunity. Men feel more courageous in their behaviour towards women, as they are actually taking courage from this impunity. Another factor in the increase in the number of killings of women is the inadequacy of the administrative and judicial authorities. Protective measures are not implemented in a timely manner and the law enforcement unfortunately acts as a mediator between men and women. I think that the murders of women have increased for these reasons."

Pointing out that most of the institutions fighting women's struggle were closed by the judiciary, lawyer Rozerin Arslan underlined that even this shows that all kinds of violence against women are political. Noting that without these institutions, every effort in the field of women's struggle would be incomplete, lawyer Arslan said: “Women should have a say in the practices directed at them. They need to be able to defend themselves freely on any platform. For this reason, I think that civil society organizations and every part of the women's struggle should move forward together.”

Stating that the behaviour of the judges about the files concerning the killings of women was appalling, lawyer Arslan added that men are often granted reductions in the sentences using justifications such as that they were “provoked” by women. However, when a woman exercises her right to self-defense to protect herself, this is not considered as self-defense.The reality is, said lawyers Arslan that “we are faced with judges protecting men and actually pointing the finger against women. As a result, to summarize all this in one sentence, femicides are political.”