The state of women’s rights in Turkey showed no meaningful improvement in 2025, as longstanding problems persisted and new challenges emerged. Femicides, institutional failures to protect women and increasing inequalities in social and political representation remained defining features of the year, with women’s rights defenders continuing to face legal and administrative measures aimed at curbing their activities.
Femicides in 2025 were marked not only by extreme violence but also by judicial processes that renewed concerns over impunity. The case of Rojin Kabaiş, a 21-year-old university student whose body was found three weeks after she went missing, became a striking example of this pattern. Despite authorities’ repeated assertions that her death was a suicide, details brought to light through the persistence of her family and public scrutiny pointed to the possibility of homicide and further intensified concerns over accountability.
Women’s rights organizations continued to warn that failures in the effective implementation of existing laws, coupled with entrenched impunity, remained the most serious obstacles to protecting women. Despite these repeated warnings, the authorities made no meaningful progress in addressing longstanding structural deficiencies, including a chronic shortage of women’s shelters and inadequate support mechanisms.
Data from the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP) showed that at least 294 women were murdered in 2025, while other sources reported figures as high as 420. The year also saw a record rise in suspicious deaths involving women. Despite these figures and repeated calls from human rights groups, the government showed no indication of returning to the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty that sets binding standards for preventing violence against women, protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators, which Turkey withdrew from by presidential decree in 2021.
Efforts to draw attention to these issues were met with continued pressure on activists throughout the year. Women’s rights defenders were detained on charges such as participating in “unauthorized demonstrations,” while women’s rights organizations faced attempts at closure through politically motivated allegations including terrorism-related accusations.
Annual data also pointed to persistent economic inequality affecting women. This inequality was reinforced by entrenched traditional gender roles and compounded by Turkey’s deepening economic crisis, further limiting women’s access to employment, social security and economic independence.
Here is some of the most important news from 2025 in the field of women’s rights:
294 women killed by men, 297 more died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey in 2025
At least 294 women were murdered by men in Turkey in 2025, while 297 more died under suspicious circumstances, according to an annual report released by leading women’s rights group the We Will Stop Femicide Platform. The report found that 85 percent of the women were killed by a close male relative. More…
Women leaving workforce for family reasons up 81.5 percent in 5 years: TurkStat
The number of women in Turkey who left the workforce for family and personal reasons rose to 21.19 million, an 81.5 percent increase between 2021 and 2025, revealing the growing impact of unpaid care work on women’s economic participation. A total of 44.7 percent were not working because of domestic duties or family-related constraints, while 39.5 percent cited education, retirement or health conditions. More…
Turkish authorities again banned Women’s Day march in central İstanbul
The Beyoğlu district governor’s office in İstanbul again declared the central Taksim neighborhood and surrounding area off limits for demonstrations or marches to mark International Women’s Day, March 8, citing concern for public order and national security. More…
Some 200 detained after İstanbul Women’s Day march
Police detained some 200 demonstrators in İstanbul after more than 3,000 women marched peacefully through the city center under tight security to mark International Women’s Day. Although the march ended without incident, organizers said police then began rounding up protesters, posting footage showing officers roughly dragging several demonstrators out of the crowd. More…
Turkey’s democratic gains for women under threat as country ranks 125th globally for females in politics, lawmaker warned
Women’s hard-won democratic gains in Turkey are at risk, Aylin Nazlıaka, deputy chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), warned, as the country’s ranks 125th out of 185 nations for women’s political representation, according to the UN’s “Women in Politics 2025” report. Nazlıaka said the CHP plans to implement gender and age quotas to help boost women’s representation. More…
Report revealed alarming shortage of women’s shelters across Turkey
A report released in May revealed a critical shortage in the number and capacity of women’s shelters in Turkey, with only 150 shelters across the country, each providing just eight beds per 100,000 women. Comparing the numbers to other European countries, the report found that Turkey is behind in providing adequate shelter for women. More…
One in 8 women in Turkey has faced physical violence in their lifetime: report
One in eight women in Turkey has experienced physical violence at some point in their lives, according to a nationwide, government-backed study on violence against women released in October. According to the results 12.8 percent of women reported experiencing physical violence during their lifetime, while 28.2 percent said they had been subjected to psychological violence and 18.3 percent to economic violence. More…
UN rapporteurs raised alarm over suppression of women’s rights defenders in Turkey
United Nations special rapporteurs expressed concern in October regarding allegations of the suppression of women’s rights defenders in Turkey, accusing the authorities of misusing the penal code and counterterrorism laws to silence critical voices. Three UN special rapporteurs stated that criminalization and harassment of women’s human rights defenders severely restrict their rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. More…
5 years later, Turkish woman still haunted by strip-search in police custody
A young woman detained over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement said she was still haunted by the trauma of a strip-search in police custody. The woman was among 30 university students arrested in Uşak on August 31, 2020, on charges later overturned in court. Police raided her family home in Eskişehir before dawn, and she was later transported to a police station in Uşak, where she said she experienced the most humiliating moment of her life. More…
Turkey’s top court overturned aggravated life sentence in brutal femicide case
Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in February overturned the aggravated life sentence of a man who brutally murdered Pınar Gültekin, a 27-year-old university student, in 2020, sparking outrage among women’s rights advocates. Gültekin’s burned body was found in a barrel buried on a farm owned by Cemal Metin Avcı, who later confessed that he had burned the body in an attempt to get rid of it. More…
Turkish court handed down reduced sentence to femicide perpetrator
A man who fatally shot his daughter-in-law received a reduced sentence on the grounds that he had been “provoked,” once again sparking criticism that femicide perpetrators are protected by a culture of impunity. Mother-of-three Derya Demir was murdered by her father-in-law, Satılmış Demir, in Ankara on December 28, 2023. She was shot seven times early in the morning hours while sleeping. More…
Turkish women’s rights activists rallied to protest sexual abuse in police detention
Women’s rights activists rallied in April to protest alleged sexual abuse of female detainees held for participating in demonstrations that erupted following the detention and arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. More…
Women’s rights advocates raised their voices against Turkish gov’t policies addressing women’s health
Women’s rights advocates raised their voices in April in protest of poorly coordinated Turkish government policies that they argue are undermining women’s health and well-being. The advocates and healthcare professionals said sensitive issues related to women’s health should be addressed with greater care and nuance, after a football team in a Turkish Super League match took to the field carrying a banner that read, “Normal birth is the natural way.” The banner was part of an action plan developed by the Ministry of Health that aims to lower the rate of cesarean sections in the country. More…
9-months-pregnant woman jailed over Gülen links remained behind bars despite repeated appeals and imminent birth
A Turkish court rebuffed three attempts to free a nine-months-pregnant former teacher who could have gone into labor at any moment. The Eskişehir 2nd High Criminal Court turned down motions filed on July 9, 11 and 14 that sought the release of Merve Zayım on medical grounds, citing an alleged violation of earlier judicial supervision orders. A fourth petition was lodged on July 31. More…
New wave of #MeToo allegations rocked Turkey’s arts, media and schools
A fresh wave of MeToo-style allegations reverberated across Turkey in August, with women and LGBTQ+ people accusing prominent men in the arts, media and education of harassment and sexual assault. More…
Delayed forensic report in student’s death fueled claims of negligence
Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) in October released updated findings in the death of university student Rojin Kabaiş, reigniting public outrage over alleged negligence and irregularities in the investigation. More…
Turkish authorities opened investigations into journalists reporting on the Kabaiş case and blocked access to coverage of related protests. More…
Amnesty pressed Turkey to protect women’s right to protest, urged return to Istanbul Convention
Amnesty International in November called on Turkish authorities to protect women’s right to peaceful assembly ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and to rejoin the Istanbul Convention. More…
While women across Turkey attempted to take to the streets for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the İstanbul Governor’s Office once again moved to block women’s access to the city’s symbolic protest sites. More…
