Violence Against Women and Femicides in Turkey

Introduction

“Nothing can be achieved without questioning the darkness making a baby a killer…”(Farewell speech of Rakel Dink to Hrant Dink, 24. 01. 2007).

The word ‘violence’ brings to mind the ‘domestic violence against violence’ in public opinion especially in feminist literature. The stems of violence against women goes back to the ancient times. This type of violence continues its existence as a social problem that is associated with patriarchy and private property and historically seen in many societies. Of course, this is a basic violence type and feminists had been able to bring this problem into view after a long term struggle (Yarar, 2015a:1). Violence against women is a complex and universal problem and violation of human rights since its resource and extensity cause to risk factor for many mental and physical health problems and exclude women from social life. Whem compared to other human rights violations, men are the actors of violence against women covering a large sphere and these actors expose women to all types of violence especially physical, emotinal, sexual and economic violence.

United Nations (1993) defines the violence against women as ‘all behaviors which are based on gender, hurt and damage women, resulted or possibly resulted in physical, sexual and mental damage and cause to oppress on women in social or private life and arbitrary restrict the freedom of women’ and describes the violence against women as violence based on gender¹. This definition made by United Nations is the commonly accepted definition in the literature of violence against women. The violence against women is defined as “… whether in public sphere or private life … all types of violence actions based on sex causing or possibly causing to physical, sexual or psychological damage or giving pain including threatening, oppression or arbitrary restriction of freedom …” in 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. The pysical, sexual or psychological violence types are detailed in three levels as violence committed by family, society and public organizations and actors in the Article 2 (Ertürk, 2015:74-75).

The researches conducted since 1970s until today has been fed by “domestic violence (under individualist point of view)” and “feminist approach” based on analysis of violence of men. The approach of domestic violence was put into practice with the researches on domestic violence conducted 1970s and it revelaed that the family is an organization committing violence. According to domestic violence approach, violence is not a problem caused from patriarchal structure based on gender but it is a phenomenon associated with tensions in family and structure of family. Violence is also monopolized by a specific group defined due to the structural positions of individuals (akt. Yarar, 2015:24). However; this approach is critized especially by feminist researchers because of arguments such as ‘it does not consider the background, that is to say context of domestic violence’, ‘it does not evaluate the results of violence’ and ‘it does not consider the sexual and economic types of violence’. From the feminist point of view, the researches based on domestic violence pay no attention in the power relations between men and women, that is to say ‘patriarchy’ and this is a very important fault. According to feminist approach, it is not possible to determine the characteristics, reasons and results of domestic violence if the power relations between men and women are not considered. The researchers, who had used the domestic violence approack in 1980s, had developed the research methods by taking into account these critics of feminist approach and the context of researches on violence against women had expanded in the frame of domestic violence approach and the background of violence, results of violence, reactions of women to violence, violence outside home, sexual violence and levels of control had been the basic subjects in 1990s (Altınay and Arat, 2007:51-54).

Feminist researchers assert that the violence is an instrument used by men to continue the social pressure on women (Dobash and Dobash, 1979; Anderson, 1997), men commit violence both in family and outside the family in order to practice their dominance and control on women, it is possible to understand violence by considering such power relations between men and women, the social position and priorities of men and the belief in that the domestic violence is the private problem of family should be questioned in order to understand the problem of violence against women and this problem requires intervention and action at socio-politic level since all problems of women including violence are caused from social, cultural and politic power (Yarar, 2015b:20; Altınay and Arat, 2007:52). That is to say, while the hegemonic feminist model defines the problem due to the structural characteristics and system, … and the ‘tendency’ of men in violence is direct associated with the ‘nature’ and ‘origin’ of patriarchy, the domestic violence approach considers it as a phenomenological problem and focuses on causality relationships of different phenomena like in classical sociology and positivist thought. According to the feminist approach, the historical and actual power differentiation, that puts women in secondary position, causes to violence of men within close relationship. Men establish power on women by means of physical, sexual and economical control and psychological abuse including tactics such as insulting and isolation and thus they put women in secondary position and subject them by this way. Consequently, men are the real origin of violence within close relationship or men are assumed to be the real users of violence. Women are the victim or sufferer of violence (Yarar, 2015b:21-25). Patriarchal structure and the power of men on women that form the origin of domestic violence against women can be better understood in the scope of feminist approach.

Femicides are the most serious result of violence against women and femicides are common in Turkey. The increase in violence against women and femicide can be understood by considering the explanationk of Walby (1990) “if violence of men is accepted as the primary way to dominate over women, then it can be estimated that the violence of men, that decreases in certain fields, may cause to a more increased violence of men to recover and restore the previous patriarch control balance. It is tried to reintegrate women in patriarchal relationships by means of sex as a reaction to patriarchy that is decreasing in any field”. Also, it is very important consider the sizes, reasons and points of view of violence against women, who are the significant victims of violence, especially in Turkey that has a negative report on gender mainstreaming and femicides.

In this study, the problems of violence against women and femicides are examined through the researches conducted to determine the violence against women at national level in Turkey according to the demands of men to dominate over women and continue this domination on women from the feminist point of view. This study asserts to question the violence against women and femicides in Turkey –in spite of legal measures- and the understanding of ‘masculinity’ that aims to dominate over women and practice all types of violence including killing when men cannot dominate over women. Because, the violence against women and femicides, that are the common scoail problems in Turkey, are usually committed by existing partner sor ex-partners or the men members of family such as father and elder brothers who are in close relationships.

Rates and Numbers of Violence Against Women and Femicides in Turkey

Violence Against Women

The position of women is significant when the violence against women in Turkey is examined. The level of gender mainstreaming or social gender inequality may be the best data for this purpose. According to the Global Gender gap Report of World Economic Forum 2015, that analyses the gender mainstreaming in participation in economy and equality of opportunity, education, health and political strengthening topics in 142 countries, Turkey is the 130th country among 145 countries. Turkey was also ranked as the 125th country among 142 countries in 2014, 120th country among 136 countries in 2013 and 124th country among 135 countries in 2012 (World Economic Forum 2014; World Economic Forum, 2015). The ranking of Turkey in 2014 and 2015 under various headings are presented in the following Table 1:

Table 1. Gender Mainstreaming in Turkey

Why is this ranking important for us? The gender mainstreaming report of Turkey presents an important clue to understand the reasons and results of violence against women in Turkey. Particularly, the economic dependency of women to men strengthens the thought that women are under the control and protection of men and this is more significant when the status of women in Turkey is considered.

The status of women caused from patriarchal culture create problems for women and these problems bring other inequality forms with them like an unbreakable chain. Violence of men emerges as an instrument of power of men on women and also the result of patriarchal control on women in other fields. How? As explained by Connel (1998:169-170), the family work-sharing, in which women take place as unpaid family workers (child care has an important role in work share based on gender) and men are coded as the wageworker participants of labor force in public sphere within gender regime, forms the expectations of men from women related to the social feminity roles. This inequal work-sharing also reflects the opinions of men about the status of women. The status of women is determined due to the power of men that determines the functioning form of family. “Housewife” and “husband” are the combination of emotional relationships, power and work-sharing. The gender regime of a certain family reflects the continous synthesis of relationships managed by these three structures.

The roles of women such as giving birth, growing up children, care of disabled and/or old people at home, if any, doing houseworks cause to consider women as worthless and weak second sex in society. While ‘masculinity’ is being defined and built according to the dominant masculinity roles both in economic class (earning Money/providing for family) and class based on sex (control of sexuality of women and reproduction and protection of ‘honour’) (Akt. Ertürk, 2015:33), feminity is defined in parallel with masculinity and included in the status ‘other’ (Akt. Ertürk, 2015:33)”. This status of weak and worthless women causes to weaken women and reinforce the secondary position of women in cooperation with the other inequation forms (girls are prevented from education, women are considered as unqualified labor force and not hey cannot participate in labor force market or women cannot work under the same conditions with them although they are employed, etc). Women, weakening by these ways, are the first victims of many types of violence especially domestic violence and violence committed by the partners in close relationship with them.

Violence is first considered as the physical violence regardless the groups/structures (among individuals, between society and state or interstates) in which it is seen because physical violence is the most remarkable, visible and substantial form of violence… When the types of violence against women are analyzed, the physical violence is ranked in the first order since it is a painful and hard action that is externally directed to the bodily integration of ‘individuals’. The actions such as “smacking, beating, kicking, pulling hair, pushing, punching, locking in home/room, breaking any bone of body, injuring by using gun, sharp objects or chemical substance such as nitricacid, burning or killing’ are included in the types of physical violence (KAMER, 2015; Altınay ve Arat, 2007).

The recent studies reveal that the violence is not just the physical violence but it also includes various types such as sexual, psychological, economic and symbolic especially against women. As explained by Bora and Üstün (2005:25), “physical violence and threatening with violence are only a few of the instruments of violence but they are not only the one”. And sexual violence is one of these other types of violence that has been included in research subjects later on when compared to physical violence and sometimes considered under the same heading with the physical violence in the statistics. Sexual violence is defined as to force someone for undesired, risky and shaming sexual intercourse (KSGM, 2008:14). The actions such as raping, that is to say forcing for sexual intercourse in undesired place and time even if by husband, sexual intercourse in undesired way, forcing for sexual intercourse with other people, incest relationship, forcing into marriage, insulting manhood or womanhood, killing or forcing to kill for honour are considered in the sexual violence (KSGM, 2009; KAMER, 2015). Another type of violence is the Psychological/Emotional violence that is defined as to apply systematic psychological pressure, playing on someone’s heartstrings, insulting, controlling someone or all actions to exclude someone from society for punishment (KSGM, 2008). The actions such as shouting, insulting, swearing, threatening, discouraging, humiliating, mocking, not allowing to decide for something, comparing with other men or women, not allowing to meet with neighbors or friends, not allowing to go out of home, etc are the behaviors included in this type of violence (KSGM, 2009; KAMER, 2015). Secluding women, preventing women from seeing their families and friends, following up women and not allowing them to go out of home are the strategies to dominate over women, weaken women and make women dependent on men (Herman, 2007: 104-108).

Economic violence is another type of violence against women. This type of violence includes the actions such as forcing women to work or not to work, seizing money or bank card of women, not allowing them to go for work, not giving money to women, seizing the private objects or jewels of women, not asking the opinions of women about the money or savings of family and creating troubles for women to be dismissed from employment, etc. ( KAMER, 2015; KSGM, 2008). In fact, violence against women, defined in various types, is interrelated. For example, the women, who are exposed to physical violence, are usually exposed to sexual violence at the same time and the verbal violence such as swearing, threatening, insulting is added to this violence. The violence against women is analyzed by considering the various types of violence in the studies conducted in Turkey.

The research called Reasons and Results of Domestic Violence, that was conducted by T.R. Prime Ministry Institution of Family Research between 1993 and 1994 and of which report was published in 1995, is the most comprehensive study on violence against women in Turkey. The Project that is titled “Toplumsal Cinsiyete Dayalı Şiddet: Sorun Tespiti ve Mücadele Yöntemlerinin Analizi” (Violence Based on Gender Mainstreaming: Problem Assessment and Analysis of Struggle Methods) supported by TÜBİTAK and conducted by Ayşe Gül Altınay and Yeşim Arat between 2006 and 2007 follows this research. According to the results of research conducted by Altınay and Arat on samples representing Turkey population in 2007, %34 of women participated in the research had been exposed to physical violence by their husbands minimum for one time. The women, who participated in the interviews, were selected among married women or women who were previously married, since the scope of research was limited with the violence committed to women by their spouses. Accordingly, the rate women, who were not exposed to violence by their existing husbands but were exposed to violence by their previous husbands, was founded as nine per thousand. The rate of women, who were exposed to violence by their husbands at least for one time, increases to %35,1. %14 of women stated that they were at least for one time forced for sexual intercourse when they did not to do. %67 of women, who stated that they were exposed to sexual violence, also stated that they were exposed to physical violence at the same time. %29 of women were exposed to economic violence (Altınay and Arat, 2007: 78 vd.,).

The research titled “Türkiye’de Kadına Yönelik Aile içi Şiddet Araştırmaları” (Research on Domestic Violence against Women in Turkey) conducted by Hacettepe Population Studies Center between 2008 and 2014 followed the above mentioned study conducted in 2007 and both studies are the most comprehensive studies conducted in this subject in Turkey. The study conducted in 2014 is very important since it reflects the change in violence against women during the period since the research conducted in 2008 until today. Both studies present the information related to the prevalence and reasons of violence, the experiences and struggle of women during this process, the recent legal regulations on violence against women and the actual information required for struggle with violence against women. It was revealed in both studies that the women in different education and socio-economic levels in Turkey general and different regions of the country were exposed to physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence and almost 4 of every married 10 women were exposed to physical violence by their husbands or partners and the percentage of exposure to physical and/or sexual violence was decreased as a result of increase in education level of women in the studies conducted both in 2008 and 2014.

Table 2. Types of violence according to the studies conducted in 2008 and 2014

When the results of studies conducted in 2008 and 2014 are compared, it is seen that the rate of physical violence was decreased from %39 to %36, the rate of sexual violence was decreased from %15 to %12, the rate of exposure to both physical and sexual violence at the same time was decreased from %30 to %27 that is to say there was %3 change in the rate of exposure to these types of violence. The rate of emotional violence/abuse, that was the most common type of violence stated by women, was founded as %44 in both studies (KSGM, 2009; KSGM 2015). When the results of both studies are compared, it is determined that women continued to be exposed to violence in country general. Women are exposed to violence by the men in close relationship with them whether their marriage continues or not; these men can be the husband, finace/boy friend, father, elder brother and relatives of women. It is determined that the violence continues in the home of father and then in the home of husband and women are commonly exposed to domestic violence by the men in close relationships with them and these are the common findings of both studies (KSGM, 2009; KSGM 2015).

These results are not specific to Turkey. Violence against women is a global problem and all women in the world are exposed to risk of violence based on gender regardless the country, ethnicity, class, religion, economic and/or social status. Because of this reason, the struggle with violence against women is not limited within the borders of nation but also continue at international level. According to the results of 35 studies conducted in many countries, the rate of physical violence committed against women by their existing husbands or ex-husbands/ex-spouses varies between %10 and %52. The results of research conducted by World Health Organization  in 15 research regions show that the rate prevalence of physical violence varies between %13 and %61 and the rate of physical and/or sexual violence varies between %15 and %71 to which women are exposed by their husbands/partners during their lives (Akt. KSGM, 2015:34). If so, here the evaluation of Pateman (2001: 130-131) is important “the types of domination based on consent or violence are applied to make women accept the dominance of men within marriage that is considered as a way of controlling of men over women”. Men, who commit violence to their spouses aim to dominate over labor and social life of women based on social power granted to men through marriage. The strengthening and economic independency of women are prevented through dominance over paid work in business life and unpaid houseworks at home and it is tried to make women vulnerable to violence (Öztürk, 2014b:72).

These statistics both in Turkey and the world present that the violence against women is seen every place where women live. The violence against women in Turkey is used as an instrument to oppress women, continue the dominance of men over women and ensure the sustainability of gender roles in the society.

Point of No Return: Femicide

The term femicide was publicly introduced by Diana Russell while testifying about murders of women at the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels in 1976, but not explicitly defined by her at that time (Widyono, 2008:7). The concept femicide means the killing of women because of reasons associated with social roles of women. In addition to the sex of murderer and the hostile feelings of murderer against victim, it is important in the related discussions that thecontent of definition should be extended and it should be defensed that the term ‘killing’, that is not considered as murder in judicial contex, t should be accepted as femicide. According to the mentioned defence, the women, who die as a result of violence actions which do not aim to kill but include violence because of its definition (economic, social or psychological), should also be evaluated in this scope (Gazioğlu, 2013: 93). Acoording to Caputi ve Russell (1990:425), femicide best describes the murders of women by men motivated by hatred, contempt, pleasure, or a sense of ownership of women.

The national studies conducted in Turkey report that the violence against women is not decreasing, on the contrary it is increasing day by day. Femicide is the most painful and sorrowful final and the point of ne return of violence against women in Turkey. Femicide is also increasing every year in Turkey. According to the report published by the Ministry of Justice in August 2010, the rate of femicide has increased %1400 during the last seven years. Again, according to the declaration of the Platform of We Will Stop Femicide (founded by a group of activist women in Turkey in 2009), 169 women were killed between 1 January and 31 July 2016 and 303 women were killed in 2015 as a result of murder in Turkey (http://kadincinayetlerinidurduracagiz.net/kategori/veriler).⁴

Graphic 1: Femicide in Turkey by Years

When the femicide by years is analyzed, it is observed that there has been a serious increase in femicide since 2012. Well then, why are women killed? What are the justifications of murderer for killing women? The answers given to these questions seem to prove that the patriarchal dominant system does not accept women as individuals and they are put in secondary position in society. The hegemonic masculinity in the gender structure of Turkey points out a masculinity that puts men in a position in which they have a job, earn money for family, strong and brave characteristics, protect the honor of family, dominate over wives and children and use violence when required to sustain this regime. The dominance of men over women in marriage is possible with the use of hegemonic masculinity ideal produced within society based on gender that causes to male domination. Power, that is the foundation of hegemonic masculinity, may be ensured either by consent or violence. If men cannot dominate over women, contrary with hegemonic masculinity, this isconsidered as weakness and this weakness expresses itself by committing violence (Öztürk, 2014a:64). Such violence can be mostly resulted in femicide.

The same information, that is obtained from statistics on violence against women, is also found in femicides. Women are mostly killded by the men in close relationships with them, especially by their husbands or ex-husbands. It is seen in the following graphic that 110 women were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands, 50 women were killed by their boy friends or ex-boy friends among 303 women who were killed in 2015.

Graphic 2: People who killed women in 2015

Men and the men, who are the family members and whose dominance is accepted by women, have the right to love, protect and commit violence against the women who are subjected to them and committing violence is one of the characteristics of hegemonic masculinity (Selek, 2008: 125). Violence against women and consequently femicide help men to dominate over women, strengthen hegemonic masculinity and sustain the power of men over women and also reproduce the social gender inequality based on opposition and hierarchy between men and women and contribute to the normalization of this hierarchy (Anderson and Umberson, 2001: 375)”. This hegemonic masculinity also includes the masculinity that protects the ‘honor’ of women in Turkey. Because of this reason, the men who are to separate or divorce from their partners of the men who are separated from their darlings cannot tolerate the marriage of women with another men in Turkey. And again because of this reason, the feminists in Turkey developed the slogan ‘love of men kils 3 women everyday”. Men, who are the ‘guards of honor’ in Turkey, have a motto: If I can’t have you, no one can,” has a Turkish counterpart, “Either you are mine or the ground’s”.

4 thousands and 190 women were killed by men in Turkey between 2005 and 2011 because of reasons such as protecting honor, poverty, unemployment, cheat, abandoning home and divorce (Gazioğlu, 2013:95). The reasons for killing women in 2015 are presented in the following graphic.

Graphic 3: Reasons for Killing Women in 2015⁵

Giving decision on their own lives, among other reasons explained above, is the most important reason for men to kill women. The studies demonstrate that men commit violence when their masculinity is disregarded and questioned or when men think that their masculinity, authority or status are threatened (Yarar, 2015b: 44). When women do not continue to marriage that is to say the divorcement is the second important reason for men to kill women. As explained by Türk (2015: 97-98), the idea of divorcement seems to be a rebellion to the power of men, disengagement from dominance of men and weakness of authority of men. However, in fact, the masculine oppression or hegemonic masculinity practices are realized through another instrumentalism. As a masculine value, violence is the end point of ‘protect women’. Violence is the end point when the culture imposing this masculine hegemony, the masculine values and codes referred to this idea and even the point of view of murderer who approves and legalizes this idea and and dignifies this idea as an indicator of masculinity are taken into account. That is to say, there is not aregression in the logic of power, on the contrary, the logic of power requires it and there is not a weakness in the power of men and this power does not allow for weakness and violence is commited because of this reason. Violence is not committed since hegemonic masculinity power is weakened or eliminated but violence is committed since hegemonic power requires it. (Taşdemir Afşar, 2015:747). These evaluations can be summarized in four items determined by Dobash and Dobash (1992:4) as the reasons of violence committed by men to women: a) “men do not want tos hare women with another people and the feeling of jealousy directed by this desire”, b) “eexpectation of men from women related to the roles of women especially in home and family”, c) “men think that they have the right to punish women because of ‘misbehaviors’ of women” and d) “importance of position and dominance of men over women”.

Discussion and Conclusion

Violence against women is a social problem that prevents women from participation in social life and especially threatening the lives of women. This problems can be seen in many countries regardless the level of development and also continues to be actual in Turkey. This study aims to analyze the association of violence against women and femicides, dominance of men over women and continuity of this dominance of men over women with violence in Turkey.

One of the most important common point of various types of violence against women defined in the text is that the women who are exposed to violence are forced to do something although they do not want to do. Whether between individuals, in society or interstates, the certain groups or individuals try to dominate over and form the lives of people by direct use of physical violence or indirect committing different types of violence and evenn making people felt the possibility of violence. And this is one of the points – probably one of the most important point – which should be taken into account in understanding and explaining the violence against women: “Violence is the most important instrument used to dominate over women”. And this is not a domination independent from gender, on the contrary, it is domination that is formed and continued within inequal gender relationships.

The increase in violence against women in Turkey may be associated with reasons such as the the role of media to make such actions visible, the role of various nongovernmental organizations to keep the subject of violence against women on the agenda as far as possible and recording data in a more efficient and different channels compared top ast. However, it should not be disregarded that the position of women began to change as a result of change in social relationships because of the level which capitalism reached at. The relationships based on gender mainstreaming begin to change both in Turkey and the world because women have begun to benefit from education opportunities, the service sector has begun to expand in the post-industrial period, the flexible and uninsured employment has increased because of neo-liberal policies, urbanization has continued to develop rapidly, women have taken advantages of education opportunities and the equality and freedom struggles have been increased because of women’s movement since 1970s. Violence committed by men is increasing because women do not want to be protected by men and they want to protect their honors by themselves, they want to rescues from marriage, that is to say they want to divorce, they want to take care of their children by themselves, they want to have the right to take share from inheritance in the same amount with men and they persist in these demands. This persistance of women threaten men to loose their power dignified in inequality network based on gender and causes to loss of power of men (Taşdemir Afşar, 2015: 739-740). This also points out a new situation called ‘masculinity crisis’: the role of men as ‘head of family’ at home and consequently the power position of men are changing. The male-dominant ideology can use violence to restore its dominance at home, strengthen the broken power and/or continue the masculinity under threat and control women when women object to men and/or ‘try to do a man’s job’, abandon men, want to give their own decisions that break down the power of men (Millett 1973; Anderson and Umberson, 2001; Sancar, 2009),

Well the, what to do for these violence and femicides? Turkey signed the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations in 1979, in 1985 and also signed the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence of European Council in 2011, has developed national action plans to eliminate the social gender inequality and adopted the Law on the Protection of Family and Elimination of Violence against Women no 6284 in order to reflect the signed international conventions to national laws. However, although Turkey had signed international conventions and adopted laws to take measures to prevent violence against women, women are stil exposed to violence and killed by their partners in front of their children when they want to divorce and this shows that the above mentioned regulations are not sufficient to eliminate violence against women. According to the statistical data given in the text, the femicide has continued and increased since 2012. Many women are killed by their husbands or darlings because of honor when they want to divorce, they express that they want to divorce and when they want to separate from their partners. Then, it may be useful to accept the existency of structural problems and accordingly develop practices to eliminate these problems.

The public organizations should take effective measures, the judicial authorities should avoid from good conduct time and impose penalty to set an example, the practices which eliminate the male-dominant culture and social gender inequality should be developed and executed, the privacy of family life should be destroyed and instead the understanding that ‘privacy is politic’ should be adopted by all parties interested in violence against women and femicide. Women should be promoted to strengthen and it should be emphasized that women are exposed to violence because of values attributed to be men and women while struggling with violence against women instead of considering women from a point of view that sympathises with them and understanding them in a passive position. Strengthening of women is not the change of point of view that considers women as ‘poor’ people but it is the practice of changing point of view of women that is to say the increase in qualifications of women by using advanced educational instruments, informing women about laws and regulations, access to and use of production instruments by women, being aware of strength of women, increase of self-confident and self-respect of women and development of capacity of women (Taşdemir Afşar, 2015:750). The feminist argument, that is to say the reasons behind the violence, general context of violence, forms and results of actions namely the structural conditions should be emphasized when such changes are implemented.

References