Men Killed 24 Women in June

According to data as compiled in the Report on Male Violence in June 2011 by bianet, based on news in national and international newspapers and news agencies, 24 women were killed by men in June 2011. Five of the male perpetrators committed suicide, two attempted to kill themselves. Thus, a total of 129 women were killed by men during the first six months of the year.

Only in June, 13 women were raped and 20 women experienced harassment and sexual violence. Eleven women were wounded by men. Five cases of child-rape and abuse and violence against children within the family were reported.

As reflected in the press, the majority of the slain women were killed by their husbands. The second biggest group of perpetrators includes the women's divorced husbands, former boy-friends and male acquaintances.

A couple in Muş committed collective suicide because they were not allowed to marry. One male university student took his former girl-friend hostage at the university.

Murders

In June 2011, males killed 24 women in 20 different provinces. Two women each were killed in Kayseri, Istanbul, Tokat and Izmir. The other murders were committed in Hakkari, Çorum, Giresun, Balıkesir, Konya, Diyarbakır, Denizli, Zonguldak, Bartın, Ankara, Bitlis, Düzce, Kocaeli, Muğla, Tekirdağ and Malatya.

Seven women were killed at home, five on the street and two at their work places.

The slain women were between 17 and 80 years of age, their murders were between 22 and 75 years old. Half of the murdered women were aged between 17 and 31 whereas almost half of the murderers was older than 54.

Twelve women were killed by their husbands, four by their divorced husbands, four by men they had rejected, two by their boy-friends and one woman was killed by her son.

One woman was murdered when she was on her way to work coming from a women shelter. Two women were killed at their work places by the former husband and the former boy-friend respectively. One woman was stabbed by an acquaintance of hers in front of her work place.

Rape

13 cases of rape in ten different provinces were reported for June. Three women were raped in Adana, two in Balıkesir.

Two women got pregnant after having been raped by their fathers. Two men attacked women at their homes and tried to rape them. Seven incidents of rape happened at home, four on the street.

Women between 16 and 85 years of age were raped. In two cases the father was the perpetrator, once the neighbour, the husband, the boss and once a chief inspector who took the complaint about a previous rape. In the other cases, the victims did not know the culprits. The highest number of rapes occurred in the age group of 16 to 30-year-olds. The rapists were aged between 18 and 75.

A total of 19 men were taken into custody in the context of rape cases in June. Five men were arrested and imprisoned. One suspect was released on bail pending trial.

Sexual harassment

20 women in eleven provinces were exposed to sexual harassment and violence in the same period of time. Seven incidents were reported in Istanbul.

Five of these incidents happened at home, two each on the street, at school and at work. The majority of the perpetrators were not known by the women. Other culprits were teachers, colleagues, husbands and other relatives.

The majority of sexual harassment incidents happened in the age group of 16 to 24-year-olds. The aggressors were between 19 and 66 years of age.

Two women were taken into police custody after they had complained about sexual harassment by a gendarmerie officer. One woman was made redundant after she complained about harassment at work. One of the molesters was killed by the relatives of the harassed woman, the others are facing imprisonment of between one and ten years in the trials opened against them.

Injuries

Eleven women from ten provinces were injured by men in June 2011. Two women in Adana were taken to hospital because of male violence.

Most of the women were treated violently by their husbands. Two women were seriously wounded by their husbands because they wanted a divorce.

Four women were injured with pistols by men, five women were beaten. One woman and her daughter had fuel poured on them that was set on fire. One woman was injured with a knife.

The women wounded by their husbands were aged between 26 and 49; the attackers were between 35 and 52 years old.

One woman threw herself out of the window in order to escape the torture and rape done by her husband. One woman was shot at the entrance of the Social Security Institution.

Child abuse

Five children in four provinces experienced domestic violence and abuse. Two out of five incidents happened in Tekirdağ.

One baby and a five-year-old child were exposed to domestic violence and rape. A 12-year-old girl was wounded by her father because she supposedly did not behave according to the imposed social gender role. Two 15-year-old girls were forced to work as sex workers.

Regional distribution of violence cases

The Marmara region in north-western Turkey takes the lead in terms of numbers regarding cases of violence against women, harassment, rape, murder and domestic violence.

19 out of a total of 67 incidents that were reported for June 2011 happened in the Marmara region, twelve in the Black Sea region (northern Turkey), eleven in the Aegean (western Turkey), ten in the Mediterranean region (south), nine in central Anatolia, four in Eastern Anatolia and two in South-Eastern Anatolia.

The cities with the majority of the described incidents are Istanbul (7), Adana (5) and Kayseri (4). (ÇT/VK)

* Picture: Ebru Nalan Sülün.