Turkey observes 205 femicides, 117 suspicious deaths in first six months of 2024

Osman Çaklı / DUVAR

Some 205 women were murdered by men, and another 117 suspicious deaths were recorded in Turkey in the first half of 2024, according to the “We Will Stop Femicides” Platform’s recent report.

In a press conference held at Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center in Istanbul’s Şişli district, the platform’s General Secretary Fidan Ataselim announced the report.

Ataselim criticized the state for not recording the femicide data, and said, “We only share with you the data we have access to. So who killed the women? 42 percent of women were killed by the men they were married to. 11 percent were killed by their intimate partners, nine percent by their fathers. In other words, women were killed by the men closest to them.” 

“In the last six months, 59 percent of women were killed by firearms. In addition, 57 percent of women were killed at home,” she said.

Commenting on the Interior Ministry’s claim that the femicide rates decreased after the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, Ataselim said “In 2021, 131 women were murdered and 99 women died suspiciously. Until 2024, femicides continued to increase. This comparison covers the first six months of the years. When women struggle, when they are more visible, we see that femicides decrease. For example, femicides decrease in March.”

Of the 205 women murdered, 65 were killed on the pretext of wanting to take decisions about their own lives, such as wanting to divorce, refusing to reconcile, refusing to marry, refusing to have an affair, 12 were killed on economic pretexts, one was killed on the pretext of hatred and 13 were killed on other pretexts. It could not be determined on which pretext 114 of them were murdered.

According to the report, Turkey observed 41 femicides, and 25 suspicious deaths in June. 

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.

(English version by Alperen Şen)