Femicides and Violence Overshadow Women’s Day Protests in Turkey

A female protester holding a feminist flag  on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Istanbul, March 6 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Turkish women have been holding protests and marches since Friday, and nine women were detained by police for carrying LGBTI flags at a protest in Istanbul's Kadikoy Pier Square.

"We say 'no' to femicide, violence against women, homophobia, transphobia, gender inequality and a male-dominated state. We will gain our freedom!" a number of women's rights representatives said jointly in Istanbul on March 6.

Fresh cases of femicide and violence against women during the weekend have increased the focus on women's rights in Turkey's male-dominated society.

On Saturday, a woman in the capital, Ankara, was stabbed in her throat and murdered by her husband in front of her four children. At the same day, a 92-year-old woman was raped and then murdered by her 23-year-old neighbour in the western city of Aydin.

Another woman was almost beaten to death on Sunday in the northern city of Samsun on the street by her ex-husband who did not accept their divorce. The woman was only saved after some citizens intervened and called the police.

In 2020, 408 women were murdered and hundreds of others assaulted by men. As of March 8 this year, 68 women have been murdered by men, meaning more than one murder for each day in the first quarter of the year.

According to an OECD report, 42 per cent of Turkish women face violence at least once during their lifetimes.

International Women's Day has also placed attention on the minor role of women in Turkish businesses, academia, bureaucracy and politics.

According to "the Women in 2020" report of the Turkish Statistical Agency,...

Continue reading on: