Forty women were murdered by men in Turkey in May, and 20 more died under suspicious circumstances, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing the We Will Stop Femicide Platform.
Of the 40 women who were murdered, 15 were killed by their husbands and two by ex-husbands, the report said.
Six were slain by current or former romantic partners and 11 by family members.
At least 14 of the victims were murdered over their decisions concerning their own lives, such as asking for a divorce, rejecting reconciliation with a romantic partner and rejecting a marriage proposal or a romantic relationship.
Saadet Çay, a teacher and mother of two in Samsun, was murdered by Adem Çay, whom she was in the process of divorcing.
In Kilis, Merve Kuvara, 23, and her 8-year-old daughter were strangled by her husband, Yusuf Kuvara.
In Kayseri 23-year-old mother Buse Erkin was fatally stabbed by her father, Yunus Yılmaz.
Femicides and violence against women are chronic problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten almost every day.
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, at least 315 women were murdered by men and 248 women died under suspicious circumstances throughout 2023. Of the 315 murdered, 39 had filed complaints against their attackers with the police or prosecutor’s office and had applied to the relevant authorities for protection.
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.
Turkish courts have repeatedly drawn criticism due to their tendency to hand down lenient sentences to offenders, claiming that the crime was “motivated by passion” or by interpreting victims’ silence as consent.
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 that 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 the signature of Council of Europe member countries in 2011.
Erdoğan’s allies have been calling for further rollbacks, urging the repeal of a domestic law that stipulates protection mechanisms for women who either have suffered or are at risk of suffering violence.