Contrasting data on women in Turkey

The report "Human Rights Record of the AKP [Justice and Development Party]" prepared by Zeynep Altıok, the deputy chair of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), and her team, once again displays the state of women in Turkey. 

To understand better what kind of a hell this country is for women, here are some data: 

Between 2001 and 2005, there were 13,928 femicides. 

Between 2010 and 2015, 232,313 girls between the ages of 16 and 17 were married off.  

In 2015 only, 17,789 children between the ages of 15 and 16 gave birth. 

In the past years, Turkey always fell behind in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. In its latest report, among 144 countries, Turkey was ranked 130th. In political participation, Turkey was in 113th place and in economic participation, it stood at 129th place. 

In data regarding violence against women, which was collected by the Gezici Research Company, 44.7 percent of women in Turkey are subjected to violence. Among those women who are subjected to violence, 67.8 percent fear their husbands will kill them. 

When you review the rate of femicides, you can see that their fears are not unjustified. 

We are going through days when violence against women is approved by certain local administrators. For instance, the southeastern province of Gaziantep's Şahinbey district municipality distributed a marriage guide to newlywed couples which detailed instances when beating up a woman was "required." 

Aylin Nazlıaka, an independent MP from Ankara, took the subject to parliament a couple of days ago. She pointed out that the guide said "the remedy for any women who is deviating from the line is beating." While you expect local administrators to...