Over 1.3 million women seek Turkish ministry’s assistance due to violence in 10 years

Turkey’s Violence Prevention Centers received applications from 1.3 million women reporting incidents of violence between 2013 and 2023, according to data from the Family and Social Services Ministry. The figure indicated that 15 women per hour have faced violence.

Tuesday December 12 2023 04:41 pm

Protesters in a march against violence unfurl banner that reads, "Perpetrators are at home, at work, in the streets. Women are in joined struggle against men and state violence."

Duvar English

Between January 2013 and November 2023, 1.3 million women applied to the Violence Prevention Centres (ŞÖNİM) under the Family and Social Services Ministry, according to the ministry’s response to Republican People’s Party lawmaker Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi.

According to the data revealing the increasing level of gender-based violence, 10,461 women were subjected to violence in the country per month, 366 women per day, and 15 women per hour on average.

MP İlgezdi reacted to the extent of violence against women and told the daily BirGün, "The number of women who cannot reach these centres due to pressure and fear is not even included in these figures."

İlgezdi criticized the government's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on violence against women overnight and stated, “The main reason for the high number of applications is the government's patriarchal language, its attitude that praises impunity (to perpetrators) and legitimizes violence against women.”