At least 392 women were murdered by men and 226 women died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey in 2022, although the government claims that the number of femicides in the country is trending downward, according to data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform.
Two hundred eighty women were killed by men in 2021, with 217 suspicious deaths the same year.
Femicides and violence against women are serious problems in Turkey, where women are killed, raped or beaten every day. Many critics say the main reason behind the situation is the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which protects violent and abusive men by granting them impunity.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked outrage in Turkey and the international community after he issued a decree in March 2021 that pulled the country out of an international treaty that requires governments to adopt legislation prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence and similar abuse as well as marital rape and female genital mutilation.
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is an international accord designed to protect women’s rights and prevent domestic violence in societies and was opened to signature of member countries of the Council of Europe in 2011.
In April 2021, just one month after withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said, “Femicides have decreased since pulling out of the convention,” which the We Will Stop Femicide Platform and other women’s rights platforms claimed was disinformation.
