October 2019 Report*

36 Femicide in October

While 8 of the femicide were recorded as suspicious deaths this month, 17 women could not be determined why, 5 of them were killed by economic pretext, 6 of them wanted to get a divorce, refused to make up and did not answer the phone. Unless it is determined who killed the women and why; Unless the suspects, defendant and murderers receive dissuasive penalties and preventive measures are implemented, violence continues to change in size.

According to the provinces, the October murders of women are as follows:

We would like to share the names of 36 women, each of whom is a life:

Who killed the women?

14 of 36 women could not be identified by who killed; 8 of them were killed by their husbands; 6 of them were killed by their partners; 4 of them were killed by their acquaintances or relatives; 2 of them were killed by their fathers; 1 was killed by the man who was former partner; and one woman was killed by her brother.

Women were mostly killed with firearms

13 of 36 women were killed with firearms; 6 of them were killed with cutting tools; 3 of them were killed with drowning; 2 of them were killed with burning; one woman was killed with assault; one women was killed by being thrown from a high place; one woman was killed with a chemical substance and one woman was killed with a hard object. Unfortunately it has not been determined how 8 of them were killed.

Women were mostly killed in their homes

22 of 36 women were killed in their homes; 1 of them was killed in a car, 2 of them were killed at work and 1 of them was killed in the middle of the street. One of the murdered women was found in the field, one was found in the garden, one in the sea, one in the recreation area, one in the river and one in the hotel. Where four women were killed could not be determined.

The working status of women is still undetermined

It is very difficult to determine the working status of women. We think that this important data should be taken into consideration by the press. According to the available data, 5 of the women are working in a workplace, 2 of them are not working, and 29 women's working status is unknown.

Women are killed in different regions and provinces, and women want cities where they were not killed.

6284 and its Consequences

It is not known whether 33 of the women killed in October have a protection order. Two women of them have no decision to remove or retention.

The Law No. 6284, which entitles women to financially empowerment and enters into force as a result of years of struggle by women's organizations, regulates many measures such as expulsion and close protection to the perpetrators of violence. Law No. 6284 protects women if applied effectively.

Because the law no. 6284 is not used effectively, Ayşe Tuba Arslan, 45-year-old mother of two children living in Eskişehir, was attacked by Yalçın Özalpay, who was divorced 6 months ago, with a chopping knife on her way home. Ayşe Tuba struggles to survive in intensive care unit; but if the law no. 6284 was effectively applied in this month, women would live, and children would not be without their mothers. Five of the killed women had children.

A sanitary pad brand Orkid published an advertisement in both Turkey and the world where pads are wrapped in newspapers and sold as something shameful. In that ad, they pointed to important problems such as gender-based violence, stigmatization, and inability to access the sanitary napkin due to economic problems.

According to the Women, Peace and Security Index survey of 2019 Norway has the highest quality of life for women. Based on the data from 167 countries, Turkey ranked 114th.

In a divorce case filed in Adana due to severe incompatibility, the court rejected all the material and moral compensation of the woman, considering the two sides equally defective. Appeals in the case of the Supreme Court 2 Law Department, the local court determined that the decision cannot be deemed equal defect. The Court of Appeals made a precedent and considered the extreme stinginess of men in marriage to economic violence against women and concluded that this was an attack on women's personal rights.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) gave the good news that two new women's shelters will be opened in Istanbul.

Developments in other countries:

Hundreds of women in Paris protested in order to draw attention to the high rates of femicides and domestic violence against women in France. According to associations, more than 120 women died in France this year as a direct result of domestic violence.

The American National Center for Aeronautics and Space Studies (NASA) had planned a space march of a women-only team on March 29 but postponed it because there was no suitable clothing for women. For the first time, the women-only team's astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir completed their spacewalk mission this month.

For the first time in Iran, two female pilots, Neshat Jihandari and Feruz Firuzi, took part in a flight without a man in the cockpit and successfully carried passengers between Mashhad-Tehran-Mashhad.

Misogynistic discourses and practices continue:

Meryem Karalök, who exposed the husband violence and struggled for divorce for 5 years, was arrested because of hitting the man who provoked her with her purse.

The Judicial Reform Strategy Document claims that the second judicial package will include the provision of postponing the sentence “if the child marries the perpetrator ". Anyone under the age of 18 is a child. Instead of protecting children from all forms of violence, this regulation protects those who abuse them, and those who want to bring this regulation to parliament are guilty. Amnesty regulation for child abuse withdrawn by women's struggle cannot be brought up again. As the women who fill the front of the Assembly, we will resist with our strength. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the content of the judiciary package will include poverty alimony, which has been spoken for months.

This week's discussion topic of the Haberturk channel "Agenda" program was "Republican Women". Even though the subject of the program was women, 7 of the participants were male. This situation attracted a great response.

According to the General Employment Union Public Employment Report, only 38.48 percent of public employment consists of women. In addition, 91 percent of those employed as public workers are men and 9 percent are women

Women continue to fight against femicide:

Cevahir Çay, who lives in Kayseri, was stabbed in the middle of the street by Mustafa Çay, a man that she was married to. The perpetrator waited for the injured Cevahir to prevent others from helping her. Cevahir Çay was hospitalized and died.

In Ağrı, 52-year-old Saime Solmaz was shot and killed by Bünyamin Solmaz who was married to her on the pretext that she didn’t allow him to bring a second wife. At that time, Kezban Kaya, the daughter of Saime Solmaz and mother of 5 children, who tried to prevent the perpetrator, was killed by his father Bünyamin Solmaz with a gun. In the statement of the perpetrator, "I do not remember whether I hit my daughter. If I hit it at that moment accidentally hit," he said.

27-year-old Gizem Vural Dik, who lives in Kayseri, was killed by a 32-year-old Mehmet Dik in the house with a gun. Gizem’s social media sharing last month revealed that she shared the rebellion of Kezban Ç. who was tried to be killed by the man he was married to.

Birgül Bilal, 32, lives and operates a beauty salon in Izmir was killed with a gun by her ex-partner İ.Ç. The perpetrator committed suicide after injuring Birgül's brother 29-year-old Songül Bilal.

The lifeless body of a 40-45-year-old woman, whose identity has not yet been identified, was found in Istanbul's Golden Horn. As a result of the examination of the body, it turned out that it belonged to Alexandra Köppel, 43, from Sweden.

Ayse Acar, a 36-year-old living in Izmit, was killed while waiting for natural gas subscription operations by a firearm by her ex-husband Kerem Tugral with whom she divorced 3 months ago.

Women continue to be subjected to sexual violence:

Gülce Tokyol, who lives in Istanbul, was harassed at the exit of the metro in Istanbul. She went to a police station to complain where the police officers turned her down by saying "nothing will come out". Gülce hung banners to the station to warn other women.

It has been revealed that women who are studying at Mehmet Akif Ersoy University in Burdur have been subjected to sexual and social media harassment and sexually assaulted by a teaching assistant for a while. The Higher Education Institution proposed to dismiss the academician from the public office at the Disciplinary Committee Meeting where they discussed 14 allegations of harassment from different universities.

A female student of Suleyman Demirel University in Isparta was sexually harassed by an unidentified man while walking down a road near the campus.

A female student at Ege University Campus was sexually harassed by 34-year-old Aykut Y.

Child abuse continues:

It turns out that a 14-year-old child in Arnavutköy was repeatedly abused by Cafer Ç, 35, and forced to religiously marry her abuser. Perpetrator Cafer Ç. was arrested on charges of "having sexual intercourse with a minor".

In Istanbul, a 14-year-old kid, while travelling with their mother on metrobus, sexually assaulted by 21-year-old İlker D. Perpetrator İlker D. is going to be prosecuted with imprisonment in the case of “sexual abuse of children” by İstanbul Criminal Court.

In Kocaeli, 16-year-old R.G. was forced to consume alcohol and drugs by 18-year-old E.C. It is learned that, E.C forced R.G to have sex with him and other men. 11 people who were abused R.G. were detained.

In Ankara, a 17-year-old kid who started taking music lessons to survive the trauma of being abused before, was abused by the 38-year-old music teacher E.M.

In Antalya, 17-years-old Y.G was abused and threatened by 22-years-old B.S to have sex with other men in exchange for money. B.S and other abusers, C.D (29), R.G (26), R.Ş (22), H.E (24), İ.E (26), İ.K (23) and M.E (23) were detained.

Cases in October:

In the case of Ecem Balcı, who was killed in Kocaeli by her mother’s significant other, the autopsy results arrived. Although the perpetrator tried to cover up the murder in his first statement, the prosecutor announced his opinion that the perpetrator should be sentenced for the crime of “intentionally killing a child”. The trial was postponed to 19 November.

Esen Dülger, who lives in Tekirdağ, was killed in 2018 by the man she wanted to seperate. Esen's case was concluded and the perpetrator was sentenced to life imprisonment without any discount.

Anesthesiologist Ayse Karaman, who lives in Ankara, was found suspiciously dead in her boyfriend Özgür T's house. The indictment was prepared by the Prosecutor's Office demanding an aggravated life imprisonment for Anesthesiologist Doctor Özgür T on the charge of “pre-designed murder”.

In October 2018, Şeyda Ayyıldız, the 33-year-old mother of 4 children living in Tekirdağ, was stabbed to death in the street by a man whom she wanted to leave. The perpetrator tried to make excuses like "was a moment of insanity, she cheated on me," as we often hear from murderers trying to get a discount from their penalties, the court did not accept the excuses by the perpetrator and sentenced aggravated life imprisonment.

Last February in İstanbul, Rabia Kaçmaz was cut on her throat wildly by Emre Çiçek, whom she wanted to leave. Rabia had been sexually assaulted and left by the lake, thought to be dead, she was run over with a car.  The perpetrator was tried to be laundered by saying that he had psychological problems, and the court decided to obtain a report on whether the perpetrator had criminal capacity.

In August, 38-year-old Emine Bulut, who was living in Kırıkkale, was killed by her ex-husband who cut her throat next to her 10-year-old daughter. This month, the court rejected the involvement of women's organizations in the case. Emine Bulut's killer, Fedai Baran, didn’t get any discounts and sentenced to life imprisonment for intentional killing. However, even though he was carrying a knife with him, the court denied that there’s “murder with planning or a monstrous feeling".

Sule Cet's allegations of suicide were denied by the court's official expert report. In addition, the biological samples taken from the scene and prepared for the identification, turned out neither Sule Cet’s nor the defendants’.

In March 2019, Fatma Şengül was killed on her way to work, with a gun by Zeynel Akbaş, who was working in the same workplace. In the court this month, the perpetrator said he regretted to get a discount, but the prosecutor asked for a penalty for intentional murder in his offense. The case was postponed to 19 December.

In the case of S.K., who was wounded with a cutting tool by the man he wanted to divorce, the perpetrator wanted an “unjust provocation discount.. No discount was not applied and was given a sentence of 11 years and 8 months.

As a result of the struggles of women, in recent cases of women's murders, the perpetrators tried to get discounts by making various excuses; it is observed that the discounts are restricted by the courts. The rapid and fair trial in women's murder cases and the limitation of reductions are of course a positive development. However, the implementation of all preventive and protective measures under the Istanbul Convention and the Law No. 6284 on Prevention of Violence against Women and the Prevention of Women's Murders hold paramount importance for the survival of women.

In September last year in Izmir, 17 year old vocational high school students B.A., İ.K., M.H., B.Ö. and S.S. were sexually abused by a 52-year-old caregiver Güngör Günbaş, during their internship. The perpetrator was sentenced to 26 years and 10 months and 14 days in prison.

In 2016, a 9-year-old child who was exposed to sexual abuse in İzmir had a heart attack and died because of fear of seeing the abuser. After the perpetrator was released, he was arrested when he abused two more children. The case was postponed to 29 January.