Men Kill 20 Women, Three Other Men and Two Children in July

Men killed 20 women, three other men and two children, injured 24 women, raped 11 and sexually harassed seven more in July, 2012, according to news reports compiled by bianet from local and national newspapers, news websites and agencies.

The victims' husbands were the culprits in the largest number of murder and injury cases, while knives turned out to be the assailants' most favored weapon of choice.

Istanbul topped the list in women's murders, while the northwestern province of Bursa saw the largest number of cases of violence toward women. The southern province of Antalya also witnessed rape more so than any other province.

Men had killed seven women and a female child in June, injured nine, raped eight and sexually harassed a dozen more. The perpetrators were already acquainted with their victims in the largest number cases during the same term, while the crime scene was located most often in the workplace or outdoors.

Murder

Men killed 20 women, three other men and two minors across 12 provinces in June. Three of the perpetrators committed suicide afterwards, and two turned themselves into the police.

Istanbul witnessed women's murders more than any other province with five incidents. Ankara came in second with three incidents, while the southern province of Adana, the Aegean province of İzmir and the Black Sea province of Samsun each saw two incidents. The northwestern provinces of Bolu, İzmit, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, the central provinces of Çankırı and Kayseri and the eastern province of Kahramanmaraş had a single incident of murder.

Women were killed by their husbands in the largest number of cases in July. Four were killed by their husbands, five by their husbands with whom they had been living separately, two by their husbands whom they wanted to divorce, three by their boyfriends, two by their husbands with whom they had had a religious (unofficial) wedding, one by her former boyfriend, one by her ex-husband and one by her son-in-law.

One woman had filed a complaint with the police, while another had requested protection before their murder. One woman had also been assigned an escort and took refuge in a women's shelter for some time.

Knives were the culprits' most favored weapon of choice. 11 men killed their victims with knives, seven with firearms (one with a shotgun, one with a hunting rifle and five with a pistol) and one by strangling her to death.

Two men killed their children purportedly to avenge their wives' decision to file a divorce. One of them committed suicide, while the other also attempted it. Another man also killed his wife, her father and her brother after she took refuge at her father's home because the perpetrator was subjecting her to violence.

The ages of men who committed an act of murder in July range between 23 and 58, while their victims' ages range between 18 and 46.

Violence-Injury

Men wounded 24 women across 13 provinces in July. Women's husbands were the leading culprits in acts of violence, and Bursa topped the list with four incidents. Istanbul and the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa both saw three incidents, while Adana, İzmir, Kayseri and the Black Sea province of Zonguldak had two incidents each. Antalya, the southeastern province of Gaziantep, the northwestern province of Balıkesir, the central province of Konya, the western province of Manisa and Samsun also witnessed a single reported incident of violence in July.

Four women were subjected to violence by their husbands, four by their ex-husbands, three by their husbands whom they wanted to file a divorce suit against, three by their boyfriends, four by men who were their close relatives and one by her neighbor.

At least 17 women were hospitalized in the process.

A dozen men battered women; six wounded them with knives, three with their pistols, while one man poured hot oil on his ex-wife. Another man crushed his victim with a pickup truck, and one men injured a police officer while taking his wife hostage.

Only two women filed a complaint against their husbands, according to media reports.

Authorities detained six men, only to release them later on.

One woman committed suicide after her elder brother subjected her to violence. Another man also committed suicide mistakenly believing he had killed his wife who wanted a divorce.

The ages of women subjected to violence by men range between 17 and 43; while the perpetrators' ages range between 24 and 63.

Rape

Men raped 11 women across seven provinces of July. The Mediterranean region saw the greatest frequency of rape incidents. Antalya had three rape cases, while Samsun and Zonguldak each had two. Adana, the southern province of Alanya and the southwestern province of Muğla also witnessed an act of rape each.

Strangers were the leading culprits in rape incidents. Seven women were raped by strangers, two by their boyfriends, one by her husband and one by her friends.

Five women were raped at home, three outdoors on the street, while another three were forced into prostitution. The assailants also battered two women after raping them.

Law enforcement officials arrested 11 men on charges of rape, while authorities decided to release seven men pending trial. The perpetrators could not be found in six incidents of rape.

The rapists' ages range between 22 and 57, while the women's ages range between 16 and 52.

Sexual Harassment

Seven cases of sexual harassment appeared in media reports in July, three of which took place in Istanbul Adana, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş and the Black Sea province of Trabzon each had a single incident.

One man was placed under restraining orders after he sexually harassed his wife and children, while five men were put on trial for sexually harassing women they did not know. The men battered two women after sexually harassing them. All incidents of sexual harassment took place outdoors except one.

Male violence by region

A total 65 incidents of male violence, murder, attempted murder, sexual harassment, sexual violence, rape and injury took place across 22 provinces in July. The Marmara region once more topped the list.

20 incidents took place in the Marmara region, 13 in the Mediterranean region, 11 in the Black Sea area, nine in the Aegean region, eight in central Anatolia and four in the southeast. There were no reported incidents in Eastern Turkey.

Istanbul province once again led the country in terms of the number of reported acts of such violence. (ÇT)