Femicide number rockets: Protests spark as Turkey withdraws from European treaty
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey has annulled the landmark European treaty designed to protect women against violence.
In 2011, the Istanbul Convention treaty pledged to prevent, prosecute, and eliminate domestic violence and to promote equality.
After 10 years, Turkey, one of the countries that signed the treaty, pivoted to the decision that their domestic laws would protect women’s rights instead, thus pulling out of the treaty.
Saturday 6th of March, women spat their anger in demonstrations across Turkey to protest the move.
A student named Hotice Yolcu was one of the hundred women gathered who carried purple flags to show their resentment to the withdrawal.
“Every day we wake up to news of femicide,” she said, “The death never ends. Women die. Nothing happens to men,”
Femicide – the killing of women and girls – has increased in Turkey over the past few years.
According to Turkey's We Will Stop Femicide Platform, at least 300 women were murdered in the country last year.
The number may be much higher, according to the organisation, since thousands of women have been discovered dead in mysterious cases.
Sule Cet, a 23-year-old woman, was raped and murdered in the Turkish capital of Ankara in May 2018, sparking protests and extensive media attention.
According to a group that monitors femicide, Turkey does not keep official statistics on femicide, but the rate roughly tripled in the last 10 years.
So far this year, 78 women have been murdered or died under suspicious circumstances.
During a meeting last year over how to address rising abuse against women, officials said the government was considering withdrawing from the European treaty.
Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, called Turkey's decision "devastating".
"This move is a huge setback and all the more deplorable because it compromises the protection of women in Turkey, across Europe and beyond," she said.
The Turkish conservatives perceive the Istanbul Convention to threaten family norms and promote violence.
The conservatives believe that the convention encourages homosexuality as it does not judge women on the grounds of sexual orientation.
"Preserving our traditional social fabric" will protect the dignity of Turkish women, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter.
"For this sublime purpose, there is no need to seek the remedy outside or to imitate others."
In a statement, the president's office explained the decision.
"The Istanbul Convention, originally intended to promote women's rights, was hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalise homosexuality - which is incompatible with Turkey's social and family values. Hence the decision to withdraw," the statement read.
It said Turkey was not the only country that had "serious concerns" about the Istanbul Convention.
Despite its withdrawal from the convention, the Turkish government "will not give up on its fight against domestic violence", the statement added.
On Sunday 7th of March, US President Biden voiced his dismay in a statement, starting a cascade of criticism.
"Around the world, we are seeing increases in the number of domestic violence incidents, including reports of rising femicide in Turkey," President Biden said.
"Countries should be working to strengthen and renew their commitments to ending violence against women, not rejecting international treaties designed to protect women and hold abusers accountable."
"We all must do more to create societies where women are able to go about their lives free from violence," he added.
World Health Organization data shows 38% of women in Turkey are subject to violence from a partner in their lifetime, compared to 25% in Europe.
Lawyer Alev Ozturk says that many abusers do not show regret in court.
The advocate says that men blame it on the woman. According to the men, woman will try to hurt the male pride and stain their honour.
“They’ll fabricate something and base their entire defence on it,” she said.
The flirtatious encounter turns into restrictions that oppress women; unable to wear what they want, leave the house after-hours, and meet outsiders - women are denied autonomy.
“She betrayed, that’s why I killed. She was not a virgin, that’s why I killed. She was not dressed properly, that’s why I killed. These are the reasons murderers justified femicide,” Ozturk says.
In Turkey, the punishment for murder is a life sentence. However, many murderers serve only 3 to 4 years only to commit the same offence again.
Victims of domestic violence still fear for their lives as they were tortured and had a near-death experience.
The city of Ankara has taken steps such as tagging people who are suspected abusers and developing a mobile app that warns authorities. So far, the app has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times by women.
President Erdogan made his decision after announcing judicial changes earlier this month that he said would boost rights and freedoms while also assisting the country in meeting the EU requirements.
Turkey has been a candidate for membership in the EU since 2005, but accession negotiations have halted due to policy disagreements and Ankara's human rights record.