MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed- There is an 88 percent increase in the number of femicide cases in Turkey in 2022 compared to last year. According to the reports, 275 women were killed by men and dozens of women under suspicious circumstances in the first 10 months of 2022. Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the hate speech of the government and the impunity policy of the judiciary are shown as some reasons for the increase in violence against women and femicide cases in the country.

On November 25, women will raise their voices against Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the practice of good behavior or unfair provocation discounts given to perpetrators of violence. Burcu Korkmaz Beştaş, lawyer and member of the Women's Rights Commission at the Diyarbakır Bar Association, thinks the impunity policies encourage the perpetrators of violence and cause the increase in violence against women and femicide cases.

“The impunity policies encourage the perpetrators”

In the interview with NuJINHA, Burcu Korkmaz Beştaş first rememorized the Mirabal Sisters, symbol of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. She said that as women, they took over the struggle initiated by the Mirabel Brothers for an equal and free life. Indicating that they, as women lawyers, are in an active but also difficult part of the women’s struggle, she said, “While we support the legal struggle of women who are murdered and subjected to all forms of violence, we also have to struggle with the patriarchal judiciary and the problems created by it. The impunity policies harm the struggle against gender-based violence and the prison sentences given by courts encourage the perpetrators to inflict violence to more women.”

“Women victims of violence are sent back to their home when they go to police stations”

Pointing out that the impunity process starts at police stations, Burcu Korkmaz Beştaş said that women victims of violence are sent back to their homes by police officers when they go to police stations to file a criminal complaint against violent men. “Many killed women went to police stations to report violence against them before they were killed. However, these women were left unprotected and sent back to their homes. If the officials had taken necessary measures, these women would not have been killed.”

“The judiciary accuses women victims of violence”

Speaking about what the legal process starts after women victims of violence file a criminal complaint, Burcu Korkmaz Beştaş said, “These women have to tell the sexual abuse and violence against them to many people. Many women victims of violence face approaches accusing them instead of protecting the rights of these women. The courts investigate women’s private lives instead of investigating the violent action of the perpetrators. And such approaches cause women to withdraw the lawsuit.

“We should take to the streets for murdered women”

Calling on all women to take to the streets on November 25 against the increase in femicide and violence against women cases, Burcu Korkmaz Beştaş said, “Women have struggled against femicide and violence against women for years. On November 25, all women should take to the streets and raise their voices against the impunity policies and for murdered women. We should raise our voices to show that we know what we are subjected to and that we will struggle against the patriarchal mentality in all spheres of life.”