Türkiye police detain dozens protesting violence against women News
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Türkiye police detain dozens protesting violence against women

Istanbul police detained dozens of protesters on Monday during demonstrations calling for stronger protections against violence toward women in Türkiye. The protest, held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, saw police blocking access to İstiklal Avenue by closing surrounding streets to prevent the gathering.

The We Will Stop Femicides Platform, a non-governmental organization that advocates for women’s rights, reports that 315 women were murdered by men in 2023, with an additional 248 found dead under suspicious circumstances. Of those killed, 41 percent were murdered by their husbands.

Protesters on Monday voiced outrage at President Erdogan’s 2021 decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a legally binding 2011 treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women. The convention, formally known as the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, classified such violence as a form of discrimination and required signatories like Türkiye to implement measures such as accessible rape crisis centers and laws to reduce gender-based violence.

The government’s Directorate of Communications released a statement in March 2021 explaining Erdogan’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, claiming that it was “[…] hijacked by a group of people attempting to normalize homosexuality – which is incompatible with Türkiye’s social and family values.”

Women’s rights groups and activist, however, say not enough is being done by the ruling AK Party to combat violence against women and girls. The protests come after the recent double murder of two women in Istanbul in October and follow another femicide in September, after a man with a lengthy criminal record snatched a gun from a police officer during a chase and shot a policewoman in the head.

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