Turkey observes 32 femicides, 13 suspicious deaths in April

In April 2024, 32 women were murdered by men and 13 died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey, according to the “We Will Stop Femicides” Platform’s recent report.

Sunday May 05 2024 02:04 pm

"Don't be silent against male violence," reads a placard from a Women's Day Protest.

Duvar English

Some 32 women were murdered by men, and another 13 suspicious deaths were recorded in Turkey in April, according to the “We Will Stop Femicides” Platform’s recent report.

59 percent of these women were murdered by their husbands and 16 percent by their partners. Among them, 56 percent were killed in their homes.

The report noted that 10 of the 32 murdered women were killed for “wanting divorce, refusing to reconcile, turning down dating proposals,” as their murderers pleaded in court.

Regarding the 13 unidentified deaths, the initiative said, “As law enforcement fails to detect why and by whom women are being killed, as our judges fail to try and punish suspects, violence continues in different forms.”

These suspicious deaths should be immediately illuminated, held the initiative, noting that the number of women found dead in questionable circumstances has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the beginning of 2024, 124 women have been killed by men and 72 suspicious deaths have been recorded by the initiative.

In 2023, at least 315 femicides and 248 suspicious deaths were recorded in the country.

The initiative reports violence against women and femicide cases in Turkey since 2010.

Turkey has made moves in recent years to lessen protections for women. In July 2021, the country formally withdrew from the Istanbul Convention (the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence), a move that advocacy groups say was a major setback for women in the country. Turkey was the first country to sign the Convention back in 2011.