The murders of women in Turkey increased from 66 in 2002 to 953 in the first seven months of 2009.
[16] In the
Eastern and
Southeastern Anatoliaregions in particular, women face
domestic violence, forced marriages, and
honor killings.
[17] Şefkat-Der, a Turkish non-governmental organization, has suggested granting licensed, tax-free guns to women as a way to combat domestic violence.
[18]
Domestic violence[edit]
According to report by the Turkish government dating from 2009,
42% of the surveyed women said they had been physically or sexually abused by their husband or partner.[19] Almost half of them never speaking to anyone about this, and only 8% approach government institutions for support.[20]When they do approach them, police and gendarmerie sometimes prefer to attempt to “reconcile” the families rather than protecting them.[20] While the rates of violence are particularly high among poor, rural women, one third of the women in the highest economic brackets have also been subject to domestic violence.[20]
According to a United Nations report published in July 2011, 39% of women in Turkey had suffered physical violence at some time in their lives, compared with 22% in the United States.
[16] Even though every municipality with more than 50,000 inhabitants is required by law to have at least one women’s shelter, there are just 79 in the whole country.
[16]