The Report of Received Applications in April 2020
3.6.2020
We are observing an increase in the number of women asking for support by reaching our application line number 02129124243, our Whatsapp support line number 05050041198, our social media accounts, our e-mail address and headwoman in Manisa. We are releasing our report, which contains the data and our evaluations about the applications we received in April 2020, to the public.

We, We Will End Femicide Platform Women’s Assemblies, stand by every woman who is exposed to domestic violence or being under threat of it. In the lockdown days that we are obligated to stay at home, the increase in the violence against women shall not drive us to despair. There is something we can do. There are application channels that we can talk about what ought to be done for all our rights, especially our right to live.

 

We are observing an increase in the number of women asking for support by reaching our application line number 02129124243, our Whatsapp support line number 05050041198, our social media accounts, our e-mail address and headwoman in Manisa. We are releasing our report, which contains the data and our evaluations about the applications we received in April 2020, to the public. From now on, we are planning to release these reports to the public regularly every month.

 

Here are remarkable applications we received in April:

 

1. Women from different 28 cities in Turkey consulted us.

2. The rate of people calling our application line in April increased by 55%.*

3. The application of people witnessing violence against women increased by 60%.**

4. The most common reason for applications was physical violence.

5. The applications caused by cyber violence increased.

 

Here are the stated issues by women who applied in April:

 

1. Women postpone taking legal action in the matter of coronavirus. 

2. Women who want to leave the home exposed to violence and go to their relatives living in another city, encounter the general travel ban.

3. Emergency lines like 155, 183 can be hard to reach.

4. Women are not informed about perpetrators who are released and take a leave of absence. 

5. When the perpetrators who got suspension order violate this sentence, the penalty of coercion imprisonment is not imposed most of the time.

6. The women exposed to violence hesitate to go to the police station, courthouse, hospital, or women’s shelter.

 

Now, we are going to elaborate on these evaluations with titles:

 

The rate of people calling our application line in April increased by 55%

 

We observe that the applications we received increased in March and April due to staying at home because of the pandemic.

 

This raise was 44% in March in comparison to the first two months of 2020. In April, the calls coming to our application line increased by 55.4% compared to the first three months of 2020.

 

In total, 28 women has reached us from different parts of Turkey.

Our application line was called from 28 city of Turkey in April. Mostly applications received in cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Mersin, Adana, Antalya, Kocaeli. Proportional distribution of cities is indicated in table below.

The application of people witnessing violence against women (mother, sibling, friends, neighbor) increased by 60%.

While 68% of people who called our application line, is the one who demanding help are yourself, 32% are the third parties who wants help for other women had reached us. This proportion was 20% in March. So, a rise was happened in applications who witnesses violence in April at the rate of 60%. In times of corona which most of us spending our times in home, when we think about the women’s  limited application opportunities especially who have to live with perpetrator, it is so important for third parties are not to be silent against to violence.

In times of corona most application comes due to physical violence:

41% of women who applied in April physical violence, 18% psychological violence, 12% economic violence or demand for economic support,11% digital violence, 4% sexual violence, 4% support for the murder case, 10% non-violent reasons have reached us.

It is not a coincidence that the applicants have increased due to physical violence. There was also an increase in women who applied for digital violence through social media in April. Digital violence is especially directed at young women in corona days where communication continues mostly from social media.

We would like to convey some of our evaluations about the requests from the people who have reached our application line.

Women postpone legal proceedings due to corona virus

Women who reach us because they are victims of violence or want to divorce state that they have delayed using their rights such as contacting official institutions and filing a lawsuit due to the corona virus epidemic. We see that the official institutions declared that 'violence against women decreased, women killings decreased'.  When we think that women are killed by men whom they want to divorce or leave most, we can predict that the decision to postpone the idea of leaving women during this period led to this result. However, this also means that women are sentenced to violent life. It is the duty of the state to facilitate the legal processes to be initiated due to violence against women.

-The women who reach to us are stating that they are not able to contact with emergency numbers such as 155 or 183. During the coronavirus days, another support line to report violence against women that is available 24/7 should be established. Both this line and the KADES application that can be used online should be made widely available.

-Even though the perpetrators of violence against women have violated the suspension order given as the protection law numbered 6284 suggests and the women have reported this violations to the law enforcement officers, the punishment of imprisonment that should be given according to the law, is not being applied, states our consultees. Likewise, the relatives of women that are subjected to severe injuries since the perpetrator did not face any consequences even after they were reported repeatedly, are reaching to us as well. Following the law will help women live, the effective application of 6284 should be ensured immediately.

The women wanting to leave the houses in which they experience violence and move in with their relatives outside the city are face-to-face with the obstruction of travel restrictions.

-Although the women contacting us want to leave the city to live with their relatives, they are expressing they cannot do so due to the travel restriction that keeps them from moving between the cities. The precautions taken for maintaining health during the coronavirus days, should not keep women from using their rights, the women should not be forced to go back to the houses they face violence in because of the travel restrictions between cities, and the arrangements to obtain necessary permissions should urgently be made.

-We are also being notified that women are not informed about the releases following the law on execution of sentences or any other reasons that may lead to the liberation of perpetrators of violence against women. The Circular of the Ministry of Interior and İstanbul Convention include the necessity of informing and this responsibility should not be neglected and must be fulfilled.

-In April, third parties reporting violence to our lines have been increased in number. The actions of violence witnesses have vital importance. Considering the difficulty of reporting for women experiencing violence from the first-hand, especially throughout the pandemic times, the statements of third parties should be evaluated meticulously by the law enforcement officers and all the related authorities.

-As the educational institutions take a break because of the virus threat, university students return to their homes from the different cities they study in and some contact us as a result of witnessing their mothers being subjected to violence. The students that cannot bear to see the violence right before their eyes every day, fear to report for reasons such as their father being old/sick or having nowhere to go in the days of coronavirus. It is the government’s responsibility to take care of all the problems from the accommodation of the perpetrator to maintaining their health through the pandemic days.