Rally planned to protest femicides in Turkey

DHA File Photo

A rally has been planned in central Istanbul to protest femicides across Turkey amid an alarming number of women murdered by men in recent years, despite the efforts of activists to prevent this significant problem, as the world readies to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Nov. 25. 

More than 1,100 women were killed by men during the past five years across the country, according to the website www.kadincinayetleri.org. A total of 1,134 women were killed for reasons such as "dying their hair red," "buying a new dress," "not cooking potato croquettes," "not passing the salt," or "just being irritating" between the years 2010 and 2015. The murderers are often their husband, ex-husbands, partners, sons, brothers, friends, or even rejected men who hardly knew these women.

The November 25 Women Platform has called for women to attend the rally scheduled to take place on ?stiklal Avenue in the heart of Istanbul starting at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 25.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has also planned "Orange Events" as part of its "Orange the world: End violence against women and girls" campaign between Nov. 25 and Dec. 10, when Human Rights Day is marked. Violence against women is a worldwide problem, according to the U.N. One in three women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence - most frequently from an intimate partner - the U.N. said in a report released on Nov. 6. 

Around 4.5 million people are victims of forced sexual exploitation and some 98 percent of them are women and girls, according to the U.N.'s data.

"Some 35 percent of women and girls globally experience some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, with up to seven in ten women facing this abuse in...

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