More needed to combat violence against women
Monday, April 14, 2008
KRISTEN STEVENS
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
Reactions across Turkish media yesterday were strong and many columnists were quick to point to broad-based tolerance in society as a contributing cause of Pippa Bacca's murder.
Turkish art critic and curator Beral Madra wrote in Radikal yesterday, �Turkey is proud of those men who have license to kill because they are considered the guardians of honor in the country. This is accepted by the masses and has been polished by the religious-oriented politicians since the 1980s, by the TV culture since the 1970s and before that by the Yeşilcam cinema sector.�
Rights activists said the crime revealed the absence of an institutional or comprehensive strategy to curb the high incidence of violence against women in Turkey.
�I'm sure in this case [the prosecutors and courts] will act sensitively, but it's not enough,� international representative for Amnesty International Turkey, Levent Korkut, told the Turkish Daily news yesterday.
He said addressing violence against women in Turkey requires government and civil organizations to develop a comprehensive national strategy that gives voice to women's rights groups familiar with the landscape. �It is not considered a priority topic. For example, victims of violence have been sent home from police stations, their complaints not taken seriously,� Korkut said.
Due mostly to the work of women's organizations in Turkey since 2000, the issue has been put on the agenda, Korkut said. �Police stations are now slightly more sensitive to women's needs,� he said. But there is not enough expertise at the state level or research available to develop an effective initiative, Korkut added. �We're giving seminars to the Ministry of Education and the Religious Directorate, but participation is weak,� he said. �The Ministry Responsible for Women and Family should be setting up a special police unit with expertise in violence against women.�
A review of aid applications to the Istanbul Bar Association Women's Rights Center revealed that 95 percent of the solicitations in 2005 involved violence. In 93.8 percent of solicitations, the one committing the violence was the husband. Among the women seeking legal assistance from the center, 73.5 percent were unemployed.
Violence is not specific to Turkey, according to Amnesty International. Every five days a woman is killed in Spain by her husband or partner, according to the organization. Nonetheless, Amnesty says that Turkey's culture of violence can place women in double jeopardy. Women's organizations cite studies revealing at least a third � and possibly up to 50 percent � have suffered violence.
Studies and media accounts addressing violence against women in Turkey paint a portrait of the widespread practice of forcing young women into marriage, everyday violence, an environment of intimidation and, at its worst, so-called "honour killings," where family members kill women who have had extra-marital relationships or who have been raped.
Subjecting young women in particular to violence, rapid urbanization sets up a clash between traditional rural values and more modern urban lifestyles, a report by World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) found. More than 65 percent of Turkey's population was urbanized in 2000, up from 41 percent in 1975, according to the United Nations Development Program, which predicts that at the current rate, close to 80 percent will be living in cities by 2015. The increasing access young women in cities have to education and freedoms often bring them into conflict with the older generation of their parents, �leading to murders, beatings and other forms of domestic violence,� the OMCT report noted.
Until the Turkish penal code was changed in 2004, if a man charged with raping a minor married the victim, charges against him were dropped. Following concerted efforts by women's organizations, changes relating to women's rights were made to the penal code in 2004. While acknowledging some legal progress, �Purple Roof� (Mor Catı), a foundation serving as a shelter and resource center for women exposed to violence, in March condemned the clause remaining in the penal code that says �unjust provocation� is cause to reduce punishments, claiming that it legitimizes violence.
The foundation also demanded that municipalities fulfill their legal obligation to provide women with a safe place to turn when they are under the threat of violence. �According to Law No. 5393, any municipality with a population of over 50,000 needs to offer at least 200 places of shelter. Three of Turkey's largest cities have no women's shelters at all, and the �National Action Plan� unveiled last year does not make shelters a priority. The foundation has also criticized the lack of education for judges and prosecutors.
However in some areas, local female politicians such as Bostaniçi District Mayor Gülcihan Şimşek, are taking on the issue themselves by cooperating with traditionally male-dominated trade unions. If a husband is found guilty of beating his wife, first his wages will be paid to his wife and he can lose his job if the violence persists, according to a recent agreement between the Bostaniçi Municipality, in the southeastern province of Van, and Genel-Iş trade union for general service workers. A similar contract was signed by the Viranşehir Municipality in Şanlıurfa at the beginning of the year. Şimşek told Bianet news agency last month that the laws in Turkey are often not applied. �A woman goes to the police and meets with men; she goes to the prosecutor's office and is confronted by men,� the mayor said. �For this reason everyone must work toward developing the consciousness that women have rights."
© 2005 Dogan Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr
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