Gaye
Erbatur, MP for the Republican People’s Party (
CHP) in Adana,
southern Turkey,
has asked Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about preventative measures
against the increase in violence towards women.
The
parliamentarian asked whether the implementation of the Prime Minister’s
memorandum No. 2006/17 was being monitored.
She told
bianet, “It is difficult to say that the projects following the memorandum,
including the education of the police force, have had any results. We must not
give up and must start a new campaign.”
Cross-party agreement on gravity of situation
Women MPs from the pro-Kurdish
Democratic Society Party (DTP), the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP),
and the Democratic Left Party (DSP) have complained in parliament that there
has been too little attention paid to the struggle against violence towards
women.
Erbatur
added, “Although the existence of the memorandum is a positive step in [this
struggle], the recent increase in cases of violence towards women is an
indication that the memorandum has not achieved its goal. For instance,
research carried out by the Van Municipality Family Centre among 553 people
shows that 41 percent of women have been exposed to violence.”
Economic crisis will lead to rise in violence
In
addition, so Erbatur, the economic crisis was a factor that increased violence
towards women and predicted a rise in cases if no preventative measures were
taken.Erbatur’s
questions are as follows:
- What is the reason for the increase in cases of
violence towards women, also reported in the media? Has there been any research
done into the reasons for this increase? If not, is a special group being
formed to do such research?
- Has there been a body charged with monitoring at what
stage the preventative measures against violence towards women, as listed in
Prime Ministerial memorandumNo. 2006/17, are? If not, is it possible to form
such a body to include experts in order to benefit from their experience?
- How far have measures outlined in the same memorandum
to train public-sector employees in gender equality been applied? How many
police and gendarmerie officers, health workers, personel of the Ministry of
Justice and public administration employees have undergone such training?
- Just as important as such training is an analysis as
to whether those who have undergone such training have internalised it. What
techniques are used to do such an analysis? Is it possible to share reports
about this training with the public? (EZÖ/AG)