‘Woman applied for shelter, police said, “We don’t deal with it”’

* Photo: Purple Roof

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

"Coronavirus Outbreak and Violence Against Women in November - December 2020 Report" has been released by the Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation of Turkey. 

The report of the Purple Roof has underlined that the biggest obstacle standing in the way of the mechanisms developed for preventing male violence against women is the public officials who neglect their duties by insisting on not enforcing the laws and regulations.

The report of the foundation has also shared some excerpts from the personal experiences of the women who applied to the Purple Roof:

'We don't deal with it, call the Purple Roof'

"A woman who applied to the police station to be sent to a women's shelter says that she was not accepted due to the coronavirus.

"A woman who applied for a women's shelter says that a female police officer told her, 'We don't deal with it, you should call the Purple Roof.'

"A woman who applied for a shelter through the police station says she was told that she could go to the shelter upon an order of the prosecutor's office.

"Subjected to severe bodily harm as a result of violence, a woman says that, in the period when she was trying to recover physically and emotionally, she got support from the Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center (ŞÖNİM) shelter; she was constantly reprimanded by the shelter personnel while she was staying there and a report was taken down about her behavior if she could not wake up at seven in the morning.

"A woman says that after her friend was threatened by her partner, they called the 183 hotline for social service application and tracking; but they were not given any information about their rights and what they could do. We see that no information was given as to the restraining order and the right of blocking the communication channels as per the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women.

"When a woman applied to the police station to get a restraining order against a person who inflicted violence on her, her application was not received and she was kept waiting at the station for hours.

"After a woman shared her complaint with us, she applied to the police for the enforcement of the Law no. 6284; we see that her statement was taken incorrectly and she was prevented from using her right to have a restraining order issued against the person who inflicted violence as per the same law.

"A woman who went to a state shelter after being subjected to violence says that they were not allowed to use phones at the shelter or go out."

'Malpractices are rewarded'

After sharing these personal experiences, the Purple Roof has also shared its own commentary about the findings of the report.

It has underlined that "the neglects which were also the case before the onset of the pandemic are still prevalent today, this time with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak being used as an excuse."

Raising concerns that "these public officials, either deliberately or due to their ignorance about the issue, put the lives of women at risk," the Purple Roof has indicated that the "malpractices are almost rewarded as no action is taken against the related public officials."

According to the commentary of the foundation, when women made an application to be accommodated in a women's shelter in November and December 2020, several of them were not placed in a women's shelter on the grounds that "there were no vacancies."

"It once again shows that the capacity of shelters is much lower than it needs to be," the Purple Roof has concluded.

"While women are not provided with the much-needed support so that they can make a new life for themselves, we also witness that they are forced to lead a life in confinement for reasons of security." (AÖ/SD)