One in eight women in Turkey have experienced physical violence at some point in their lives, according to a nationwide, government-backed study on violence against women released on Tuesday.
The “Turkey Survey on Violence Against Women” (Türkiye Kadına Yönelik Şiddet Araştırması), conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, interviewed 18,275 women aged 15 to 59 across the country between November 2024 and January 2025.
The research was carried out by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) in cooperation with Marmara University.
The study aimed to assess the prevalence, risk factors and social perceptions of violence against women, covering physical, sexual, psychological, economic and digital forms of abuse as well as stalking.
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.
The survey defined psychological violence as emotional abuse such as threats, humiliation or controlling behavior, and economic violence as restricting women’s access to work, money or other financial resources.
Violence was most prevalent among women aged 35 to 44, with 14.7 percent in that age group reporting lifetime exposure to physical violence.
Divorced women reported the highest rates of violence experienced, with 62.1 percent saying they experienced psychological abuse, 42.5 percent economic and 41.5 percent physical violence. Among married women 26.4 percent experienced psychological violence, 19.9 percent economic and 11.6 percent physical violence. Women who have never been married were most exposed to digital violence (14.2 percent) and stalking (13.4 percent).
The study found that 62.3 percent of digital violence cases and 39.6 percent of stalking incidents were committed by strangers. Partners or former partners were identified as perpetrators in 15.7 percent of digital and 32.1 percent of stalking cases.
Women without a formal education were most likely to experience economic violence (31.8 percent), while university graduates were least likely (8.9 percent). Among employed women, those in the private sector faced higher exposure: 34 percent reported psychological and 21.1 percent economic violence, compared with 31.9 percent and 10.6 percent among public-sector workers.
Physical violence was most prevalent in Turkey’s northeastern Anatolia region, where 25.9 percent of women said they had experienced it, compared with 8.8 percent in southeastern Anatolia, the lowest rate recorded.
In the 12 months prior to the survey, 11.6 percent of women reported experiencing psychological violence, 3.7 percent digital violence, 3.2 percent economic violence and 2.6 percent physical violence. Women living in large cities were slightly more likely to report recent abuse, with 12.2 percent saying they had faced psychological violence in the past year.
The survey found that 15–24-year-old women were most affected by all forms of violence in the past year. Digital violence was highest in this group, at 7.3 percent, compared with 4.1 percent among 25–34-year-olds and 3.2 percent among 35–44-year-olds.
Digital violence refers to the use of technology, digital platforms or electronic communication tools to harass, threaten, control or abuse someone.
Among women who experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner, 21.7 percent cited men’s “anger control issues” as the main reason, followed by upbringing (13.3 percent) and financial difficulties (13.0 percent). The tendency to blame financial or family-related problems increased with age, while jealousy was cited more frequently by younger women.
The study found that 47.7 percent of women who experienced violence from a partner did not tell anyone about it. Those who did most often confided in a female family member (31.8 percent) or a female friend (10.2 percent).
Separate data from the Federation of Women’s Associations of Turkey (TKDF) show that the problem continues to claim lives. According to TKDF, 290 women were killed by men in the first nine months of this year, while the deaths of 71 women were recorded as suspicious. Most of the women were shot dead, and the majority were killed in their own homes. Between January 1 and September 30, the federation reported that 108 women were killed by family members and 41 were murdered by men from whom they sought to divorce. Of those killed, 125 were married, and 45 percent were between the ages of 19 and 35.
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 affording them impunity.
Turkish courts have repeatedly attracted criticism due to their tendency to hand down lenient sentences to offenders, claiming that the crime was merely “motivated by passion” or by interpreting victims’ silence as consent.
In a move that attracted national and international outrage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used a presidential decree to withdraw the country from an international treaty in March 2021 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 the signature of Council of Europe member states in 2011. Turkey had been a party to the convention until 2021.
Erdoğan’s allies have also been calling for further rollbacks, urging the repeal of a domestic law that stipulates protection mechanisms for women who either have suffered or are at risk of suffering violence.
