Legal processes of femicide, self-defense cases

We spoke to feminist lawyer Diren Cevahir Şen about the legal processes of femicide and self-defense cases. “Women are not protected by the state. They are sent home back by police when they apply to them about the violence they face. They are forced to live in torture places so-called houses. When they protect themselves, Article 25 and 27/2 of the Turkish Penal Code are applied against them.”

ZEYNEP PEHLİVAN

News Center - Analyzing the reasons behind the femicides or violence against women, which has significantly increased in Turkey in recent years, is also an inseparable part of the solution! For this reason, violence cases have been the subject of many academic researches, scientific articles, or surveys in Turkey. As a result of the researches carried out by different organizations, women have been killed or subjected to violence for asking for a divorce, economic reasons, refusing to be in a relationship.

When we look from a more general perspective; we observe more deep-rooted and established reasons such as gender roles, social mentality, and impunity. Especially, the loopholes in the law have an important role in increasing violence against women. The existence of laws that make divorce more difficult or the lack of laws to eliminate violence against women constitutes the most important pillars of the process.

Moreover, some laws only exist on papers or they aren't implemented and these can create considerable spaces for the perpetrators of violence. Most laws protect family structure rather than women. Thus, Turkey’s unlawful withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has raised more concerns on this issue!

In the third part of our article series, we try to look at the legal processes of femicide, violence against women, and self-defense cases. We spoke to feminist lawyer Diren Cevahir Şen, who has worked as a lawyer since 2009 and carried out many activities in areas such as ecology, violence against women, and child abuse.

 

What do you think about why women haven’t been able to be protected in Turkey? Which laws haven’t been implemented and which laws are insufficient to protect women?

We should say “women haven’t been protected in Turkey”. Although the Istanbul Convention, Act No. 6284 (Article to Protect Family and Prevent Violence against Women in Turkey), CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the Turkish Penal Code are in force in Turkey, at least three women are killed by men every day in Turkey, thousands are subjected to harassment, rape, and multiple male violence. And this shows that women aren’t protected knowingly and willfully. If the laws and international conventions were implemented, the perpetrators of violence wouldn’t feel so comfortable and women would be alive now. Surely, laws should be more equal for women. But those who govern the country don’t implement the existing laws. When women apply to police stations or courthouses to demand to get a protection or restraining order, they are sent back.

How does the lawsuit process work? Are men punished for killing women?

Men kill at least three women every day. If they appear before the judge by wearing a suit, their sentences can be reduced. Officially, male violence is being rewarded. We have faced many very interesting defenses; “I loved her, I was jealous of her, I felt abased, salt of meals was less, she wore tight trousers, she laughed loudly, she chewed gum, she rose against me, she hid money from me, she always met her mother, she rarely met my mother, she didn’t what I wanted, she asked for a divorce, she didn’t allow me to see my children and etc.”

Men proudly defend themselves by using such absurd defenses. The lawyers of these men sometimes go over the limit and make false statements to accuse women, if they are still alive, lawyers and families of femicide victims. And judges mostly allow them instead of protecting the victims. Women are killed by men because they can only speak their native language, no translators are available in the courtroom and they cannot express themselves in a foreign language. Let’s remember Fatma Altınmakas. She was the mother of six and raped by a man in Muş province. She was killed by her husband after filing a criminal complaint against the rapist.  Fatma Altınmakas couldn’t express what had happened to her because she couldn’t speak Turkish.

Undoubtedly, this situation is the general policy of the state. Women are expected to bow down to male violence. As a result of conservative and misogynist policies, men kill, harass, beat and rape women because they know that nothing will happen to them.

Could you tell us about the cases of women, who had to kill to not be killed?

The cases opened against women, who had to kill to not be killed, are held differently. Women never think, “Which men should I harass today? Which men should I killed?” Women just demand an equal, free and fair life. Women are not protected by the state. They are sent home back by police when they apply to them about the violence they face. They are forced to live in torture places so-called houses. When they protect themselves, Article 25 and 27/2 of the Turkish Penal Code are applied against them.

“No penalty shall be imposed upon an offender in respect of acts which were committed out of necessity, in order to protect against a serious and certain danger,” says Article 25 of the Turkish Penal Code.

As can be seen, the law is easy and clear for everyone to understand. Women should protect themselves to be not killed. But the Article 25 hasn’t been implemented, and women have been held in prisons for years. What do they demand from women? Should they endure male violence as long as they can? Why does the article on self-defense exist?  Why do judges and state allow men to walk freely but put women in prisons for years for protecting themselves?

 

Women, who aren’t allowed to talk throughout their lives, face obstacles during hearings. They hardly express themselves and they are forced to tell what they faced. They also face maltreatment while trying to tell their stories. Those who cannot protect women send women to prison for protecting themselves.

Women have to “kill to not be killed” in the existing legal order. How will the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention affect the process?

We showed extraordinary efforts for the Istanbul Convention to be implemented. Judges, prosecutors, police stations, local administrative chiefs raised difficulties to not implement the convention. Mostly, we saw that they didn’t know anything about the convention. Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention by a Presidential decree is unconstitutional. The convention is still in force. But after the announcement of the withdrawal, we have heard that police officers, gendarmeries, and even some prosecutors send women back when women apply them to get a protection or restraining order against violent men. This is clearly a violation of laws by law enforcement forces and the judiciary. I am afraid that we will face many rights violations against women from now on. This means women will live in fear in the country.