Saturday, October 13, 2018

Feminicide across Europe: Turkey


1 Sources
The number of sources collecting data on femicide in Turkey is limited. There has not yet been agreement as to the definition of femicide and the national authorities do not distinguish between femicide and female victims of homicide.

1- Turkish statistical Institute collected data about femicide and publishes annually. This data is the most accurate data for Turkey. However, the data covers only the number of women killed and it does not provide any other information.

2- A LGBT activist NGO has collected data about femicide, mainly from the media, since 2009 (http://bianet.org/kadin/bianet/133354-bianet-siddettaciz-tecavuz-cetelesi-tutuyor). In addition, there are two other NGO’s collecting data about femicide: www.anitsayac.com and http://kadincinayetleri.org
by Sadik Toprak

In order to fight feminicide/femicide, various Latin American and European countries have adopted increasingly specific laws and legal instruments that penalize feminicide. The ratification of the Belém do Pará Convention1 in Latin America and the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention2  in Europe, demonstrate an increasingly stronger international commitment against this kind of violence. The establishment of the Bi-regional Dialogue on Gender by the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as well as the adoption of the Urgent Resolution on Feminicide in the European Union and Latin America3 by the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) also express this commitment.    


However, legal norms, agreements, and international dialogues alone are not sufficient for the eradication of violence against women, nor its most extreme manifestation, feminicide.


Traditionally, States were only responsible for their own actions or those of their agents, but international public law has evolved and currently, the principle of due diligence makes the State responsible for the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of violence, regardless of who commits the crime. The duty of due diligence obliges States to enter the private sphere, where historically, they have not intervened, but where the majority of cases of violence against women occur. 



Therefore, it is the duty of the State to take all necessary measures to prevent human rights violations, such as feminicide, before they occur. This means, on the one hand, adopting pertinent laws and policies to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish those guilty of abuse, and on the other hand, successfully implement them. 

Patricia Jiménez, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – European Union, Brussels


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