Recently, a serious increase in violence against women and femicides has been observed in Turkey. Particularly due to government policies that disregard women, male violence has become increasingly brazen.
According to data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, 45 women were murdered in the first two months of 2026. The increase continued in March. Gülyeter Aktepe, an executive of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) in Istanbul, spoke to ANF about violence against women in Turkey.
Aktepe noted that there is no transparent or comprehensive official data on femicides in Turkey. She said: “Firstly, it must be said that we do not have sufficient data to claim that femicides have ‘suddenly increased.’ In Turkey there is no official data system that transparently, reliably, and in detail demonstrates whether femicides have increased. Because the state does not share data, women’s organizations have for years been identifying these murders by reviewing cases reported in the media. Whenever several femicide cases appear in the news consecutively, discussions immediately begin about an ‘increase’: ‘Is it really increasing, or is visibility increasing?’ But there is not enough data to answer these questions.
Of course, the main issue is not the numbers but the failure to prevent femicides. However, the current information policy and data debate should not be seen merely as a technical matter but also as a political problem.
By not sharing regular data on male violence, the political authorities aim to prevent public discussion about the real scale and causes of the problem. Because women are not killed randomly. They are killed when they say ‘no,’ when they want to separate, when they claim their rights, when they initiate divorce, when they seek to build an independent life, or when they reject men’s control over their lives. Femicides are still described with expressions such as ‘relationship issue,’ ‘family dispute,’ ‘jealousy crisis,’ or ‘temporary madness.’ This language confines violence to the private sphere and removes it from being recognized as a political issue, thereby making systematic male violence invisible.
After years of struggle by the women’s movement and the feminist movement against expressions such as ‘crime of passion,’ ‘honor killing,’ or ‘jealousy murder,’ these deaths began to be named with the concept of ‘femicide.’ It was emphasized that the perpetrators are not monstrous, deviant, addicted, or mentally ill individuals, but ordinary men. The slogan ‘Femicides are political’ came to the forefront, because it is clear who commits the crime, who the victims are, and who fails to implement preventive and protective policies. Men see killing women as their right with the power they derive from patriarchy, while the state fails to fulfill its obligation to prevent it.”
Preventive policies against male violence are not implemented
Aktepe stated that in order to understand the state’s role in femicides, the institutionalization of patriarchy must also be discussed. She continued: “All state institutions, including the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, reproduce the norms of a male-dominated social order. Family-centered policies that remove women as subjects and confine them to the home continue; women’s right to make decisions about their own lives is constantly questioned, and the concept of gender is being banned.
While conservative policies that reinforce men’s claims of control over women are spreading, women’s civil rights are being targeted and legal achievements such as the Istanbul Convention are being dismantled. Marriage is encouraged while divorce is made more difficult. A system of family mediation that forces women to negotiate with perpetrators of violence is being proposed.
Law No. 6284 is not effectively implemented. Women are killed while carrying restraining orders in their pockets; they are sent back home from police stations where they go to file complaints. Shelters are insufficient. Protective and preventive policies against male violence are not implemented. Sexist judicial decisions undermine women’s trust in justice and in complaint mechanisms. Meanwhile, perpetrators of male violence are effectively rewarded with impunity.”
Women are killed in an environment where policies encourage men
During judicial proceedings, women’s lives are scrutinized in detail while attempts are made to find justification for the perpetrators’ crimes. Debates over ‘unjust provocation’ are conducted in a sexist manner, resulting in what are often called ‘masculinity discounts’ in sentencing. Whenever new execution regulations are discussed, women fear that perpetrators of violence in prison will be released and show up at their doors. Women are killed in conditions where all these policies embolden men.
Femicides are not isolated criminal incidents that occur suddenly; they are the final link in a chain of systematic male violence that includes psychological violence, isolation, physical violence, stalking, and threats. Many women who were killed had previously asked for help multiple times, filed police complaints, obtained protective orders, and reported that they were under threat. This reality clearly shows that the state is failing to fulfill its obligation to protect women’s right to life. It is necessary to continually emphasize that femicides are not random and can be prevented when treated as a social issue.
Femicides became a public issue thanks to women’s organizations
Referring also to the role of society, Aktepe stated that the visibility of femicides and their recognition as a political issue is the result of women’s struggle. She said: “When evaluating the situation in Turkey, it cannot be said that there is complete silence. There is a strong women’s and feminist movement that has made it possible for femicides to become this visible and politicized. Thanks to the struggle of women’s organizations that organize street protests, conduct campaigns, follow the trials of murdered women, and emphasize the importance of implementing protective and preventive policies, femicides occupy a significant place on the public agenda.
However, not every murder becomes widely known. Some murders committed with particular brutality receive days of media coverage, while others are reduced to a single paragraph where even the perpetrator’s name is not mentioned and are quickly forgotten. The situation, often described as a broader ‘social silence’, has several causes.
First, the continuation of sexist, family-centered, and conservative policies that reduce systematic male violence from a political issue to a private matter, causing it to be perceived as an individual tragedy rather than a social problem.
Second, the normalization of violence as a result of reading news about a new femicide every day, along with growing distrust in the state’s ability to prevent these murders.
Third, the widespread perception of impunity, which makes sustained collective reactions more difficult due to the assumption that nothing will change. In a country where a female judge can be shot and injured by a male prosecutor in the middle of a courthouse, women do not trust any complaint mechanism.
In addition to all these reasons, the criminalization of social movements that express political demands and criticize existing policies, as well as the opening of investigations against women’s protests, also plays a role. I believe that expanding the struggle against femicides and male violence, while correctly politicizing the issue and identifying the right political targets, will also help break the silence in society.”