Men Kill 20 Women in April

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According to news reports bianet compiled from local and national newspapers, news sites and agencies, men killed at least 20 women, two children and five men; raped four women; forced 63 women to sex work; harassed 30 women; sexually harassed 37 girls; injured 28 women in April.

One woman killed a man who harassed her, three women killed men who inflicted violence on the women.

Men killed at least 72 women and seven children; raped 26 women; harassed 75 women; forced 229 women to sex work; sexually harassed 124 girls; injured 141 women in the first four months of 2018.

Murder

Men killed 20 women, two children and five men in April.

Other than these murders, two women were found suspiciously dead. A person who murdered a 5-year-old child couldn’t be identified. A man who was arrested for severely injuring his wife threatened the woman with death ahead of the hearing.

Three of the five men who were killed in gender based murders were thought to be the boyfriends of murdered women, and the other two were the women’s fathers.

10 percent of the murdered women were refugee or immigrant.

15 percent of the murders took place in public places; 35 percent at women’s homes.

40 percent of the women were murdered for attempting to divorce/break up or rejecting their proposal to commence/recommence a romantic relationship.

One femicide occurred despite protective order. Two women had filed a complaint claiming that they would be murdered before the murders, yet no precaution was taken.

50 percent of the women were killed by their husbands.

One woman was killed by her father; one by her husband of religious marriage; one by her ex-husband; nine by their husbands; one by a man whose proposal to commence a romantic relationship was rejected; two by their boyfriends; one by her grandson. Murderers of two women weren’t reported in the media.

60 percent of the murders were committed with firearms:

Nine women were killed with gun; three with rifle; two with knife; two by being choked; two by being battered by an object; one by being battered. Method of murder of one woman wasn’t covered by the media.

Four murderers surrendered after the murders, four committed suicide, one attempted suicide.

The cities where femicides occurred are Adana (1), Antep (2), Çorum (1), Denizli (1), İstanbul (3), İzmir (1), Kırklareli (1), Kocaeli (2), Manisa (1), Mardin (1), Mersin (1), Muğla (1), Nevşehir (1), Niğde (1), Sivas (1) and Tekirdağ (1).

Rape

Four rape incidents were reported in the media in April.

Two of the rapists were male strangers who took the women to their cars; one was a taxi driver; one was ex-boyfriend of the woman.

One of the raped woman was a refugee, another one was with disabilities.

Three of the rape incidents occurred in desolate places where the drivers took the women to by force, one occurred at the woman’s home.

Judicial process

Only one of the rapists was arrested. The rapist who raped his ex-girlfriend was released. The judicial process in the wake of the two rapists being detained wasn’t covered by the media.

Sex work by force

63 women were forced to sex work in April.

33 percent of the women weren’t from Turkey.

Judicial process

48 people who forced the women to sex work were detained, at least nine of them were arrested, judicial process about the others wasn’t covered by media.

Harassment

30 incidents of harassment against women were reported in the media.

83 percent of the harassers were male strangers.

25 women harassed by men they didn’t know; one by her superior at the workplace; one by a bus driver; one by her boyfriend; two by university lecturers.

6 percent of the harassment incidents occurred at public buses; 13 percent at student dorms; 43 percent in the street, and the others are at places such as work place, concert area, hotel, park.

Judicial process

Only four of the 16 perpetrators were arrested. Restraining order was issued for a harasser, one was ruled to be tried without arrest. Investigation was launched against four harassers. Administrative investigation was launched against a doctor who reportedly harassed a health worker. One academic member was discharged for harassing students. Media covered detention of three harassers but the following process wasn’t reported. One harasser was killed by the woman whom he harassed.

Child abuse

Men sexually abused at least 37 girls in April.

32 percent of the child abuse incidents were uncovered by their teachers and 5 percent by their families.

Children's teachers constituted 32 percent of the abusers.

Eight children were abused by school principals; four by their teachers; one by a shuttle driver; six by their fathers; one by a doctor; two by men they knew from the neighborhood; one by her schoolmate; one by a man she met on social media and who identified himself as police; one by her step-father; six by male strangers. Identity of two abusers wasn't reported in the media.

Three perpetrators had criminal record of various crimes.

Violence-injury

Men inflicted violence on 28 women in April.

At least 21 percent of the women were injured.

61 percent of the violence-injury incident occurred in public places in front of people’s eyes.

14 percent of the women who were subjected to violence were trans women.

21 percent of the women were killed for attempting to break up/divorce or rejecting the proposal to commence/recommence a romantic relationship.

53 percent of the women were subjected to violence by their partners or ex-partners.

Two women were subjected to violence by their elder brothers; one by her relative; one by her husband of religious marriage; 10 by their husbands of official marriage; two by police officers; one by a taxi driver; four by male strangers. Acquaintance level of three perpetrators with the women weren’t reported in the media.

Firearms and sharp objects were used in 32 percent of the violence incidents:

Four women were subjected to violence with gun; five with sharp object; 17 by being battered; one by being battered with an object. One man burned down the home of woman’s family.

One perpetrator, who thought that his wife was cheating on him, ran away from prison; killed the woman’s father and burned down the family’s house.

Three perpetrators were killed by women, on whom they inflicted violence, or women’s relatives. One assailant committed suicide after severely injuring his wife.

Judicial process

Only one of the 26 perpetrators was arrested; one was released to be tried without arrest; restraining order was issued for two; no action was taken against three; one assailant was released after being detained. Judicial process after detention of three assailants wasn’t reported in the media, no information about the assailants in 11 cases was covered by the media.