A survey conducted by the Ankara-based Metropoll in March has revealed that domestic violence is the biggest problem faced by women in Turkey, local media outlets reported.
When respondents of the “Turkey’s Pulse” survey were asked to name the biggest problem in the country, 31.4 percent said it was domestic violence; 29.5 percent said it was all the problems mentioned in the survey, including unemployment, family or social pressure and sexual harassment; 12 percent said lack of education; and 6.2 percent said gender inequality.
To another question asking the role of the government in the frequent cases of domestic violence, 45.7 percent of respondents said the government bears much responsibility for cases of domestic violence, while 27.9 percent said the government was partly responsible.
Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) constituted the largest number of respondents holding the government responsible for widespread cases of domestic violence, at 70.6 percent. They were followed by supporters of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) with 70 percent.
Femicides and violence against women are serious problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten every day. Many critics say the main reason behind the situation is the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which protects violent and abusive men by granting them impunity.
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu), 280 women were murdered in Turkey in 2021.
In a move that attracted national and international outrage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan through a presidential decree pulled the country out of an international treaty in March 2021, which requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is an international accord designed to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence in societies and was opened to signature of member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.
