Only a few days back what came to be known as a black and white challenge, women across the globe posted their black and white picture on social media supporting each other. The challenge was a reward in getting people’s attention towards Turkey’s long withstanding problem of femicide. Femicide or ‘honour-killing ‘in Turkey came into focus after the murder of a 27-year-old student named Pinar Gultekin by her former boyfriend. Her death sparked outrage in the country exposing the long list of deaths caused by Femicide in the country.
Violence against women is a prevalent issue in Turkey with around 42% of Turkish women aged between 15 to 60 being subjected to both sexual and physical abuse alone in the year 2009 and the number keeps on increasing. The high rate of femicide in the nation is due to the lack of political action by the government.
The patriarchal approach of the Turkish government can be counted as a major cause. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2014 accused feminist of rejecting ‘Motherhood’ saying women and men could not be treated equally as it is against nature. Later after two years, he claimed that those women who are not mothers are incomplete. The president encourages women not to use birth control and promote at least three children for the growth of Turkey’s population. Erdogan’s anti-feminist family-oriented rhetoric has a powerful influence on policy implementation and legal practices. In 2012, the President equated abortion with a murder that led to the dramatic decline of abortion services in hospitals.
The Istanbul Convention
Turkey, in 2011, became the first country to sign the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe convention that prevents and combats against all the domestic violence against women. After this, in 2012, the country adopted law number 6284 to protect the family and prevent violence against women. But under Erdogan conservative justice and development party, however, the convention is under threat as AKP has petitioned again and again for changes to the convention on the grounds that it aggravates divorce and Immoral lifestyle and threaten traditional family values.
The neoliberal economic policies of the government promote religious conservatism. The government promotes socially constructed roles and refers to womanhood with sacred ‘motherhood’. The conservative circle in Turkey wants to abolish both the Istanbul convention and law number 6284 as they claim that laws fostering gender equality are tearing families apart. Both the laws were achievements for the women’s movement in the country.
Preserving family unity directly affects women and their lives. Family-oriented policies building women’s role as housewives and mothers are cutting women’s rights. Women are ignored at the individual level and their role is seen only for family. Most of the women who are achieving economic independence and exercising their rights and are saying no to abusive marriages and relationships. Turkish feminist Scholars Fatimagul Berktay says that men are undergoing a crisis of ‘masculinity’ due to women empowerment and no longer see themselves as breadwinner, protectors and maintainers of women.
As per their traditional notion, they accuse women not being obedient that results in physical and sexual violence. It can be noted that in many femicide cases, the perpetrators are mostly ex-partners or ex-husbands. Men found guilty easily get a bailout on the ground of being religious and walk freely despite their crime.
Women participation in the labour force and gender segregation in the workplace is a major cause too. Women are subjected to work in low paid jobs or without security. In the informal sector, gender wage discrimination is common and unemployment rates of women are higher than men. Economic dependence of women on their partners does not allow women to walk out domestic violence. Due to economic inequalities, lower-class women do not avail a protective mechanism from the state.
At the very least, political tension also sums up as a reason for worsening violence against women in the country. Gender-based violence is common in areas affected by conflict. Religious militarism is in its peak in the country making space for the use of misogynist language. The ceasefire between Kurdistan’s worker’s party PKK and the Turkish government broke down in 2015 and failed to cope up in 2016, which has added to women abuse and violence.
Despite all this, a rise is being seen in women standing up for their rights. Feminist and women rights workers are raising their voices for their rights and are divorcing their partners. Caught between their struggle of rights in a country gripped by Islamic and nationalist discourse where male violence seems almost legitimate. it is unclear that women will win their battle against long occurring abuse, violence, and deaths.