Violence Against Women and Femicide by Ece Eroğlu

In this article, I would like to address one of the biggest problems faced by women and girls in our  country, “Violence Against Women and Femicide”. In this article, the anthropological and  sociological development of the phenomenon of honour as a form of symbolic violence normalizing  the sexual control of women, and honour killings as a form of direct violence against women in the  context of Turkey are examined. 

The economic value of women, such as producing labor due to their fertility, mediating the transfer of  men's property to their descendants, brought them under the ownership of men and led to the sexual  control of their bodies due to men's desire to be sure of their lineage. In this framework, the concept of  "honor" has emerged as a male-oriented phenomenon caused by the sexual control of the female body.  This value of woman has also made her a means of exchange. In this process, since the girl and the  bride will bear children to the family she goes to and those children will be of economic value, the boy's side has started to give small gifts to the girl's family in the early ages. In the process, these gifts  turned into what is known today as "bride money". 

The phenomenon of honor, which determines the behavior of women in society, has led to the  exclusion of women from the public and therefore the political sphere. This situation created the  justification for the struggle for gender equality, starting with the French Revolution in 1789 for  women. An important dimension of the struggle to prevent "violence against women" has been  "virginity based violence". Although violence against women is considered a serious human rights  issue and a form of discrimination, it used to be considered a normal, justifiable event, and a private  matter that the state should not interfere with, even by women.  

It is a popular mistake for our country to associate these murders with the Muslim community or  communities or with Islam. However, whether the reason is "passion" or "custom", femicide should  not be excused in either Western or Eastern legal systems and benefit from a reduced sentence. In the  globalizing world, femicide is a common problem of all humanity, not of Muslims, the traditional  "East" or the underdeveloped "South". This shows that honor is based on a patriarchal ideology of  oppression, a symbolic power that does not allow women the freedom to make autonomous decisions  about their private lives for fear of bringing shame to their families. He draws attention to the fact that  the readiness and capacity to use physical force in order to be integrated with honor forms the basis of  male dignity. In Turkey, where the modern social order, which the West started to catch up with with  the Age of Enlightenment, has been tried to be established with the Republican revolution, very  important gains have been made and developments have been achieved in the fight against gender  inequality, but violence against women is still a very important socio-political problem and area of  struggle. 

Based on the data of the General Directorate of Security, studies conducted at the same time show that  the provinces with the highest number of femicides are İstanbul, İzmir, Antalya, Bursa, Adana,  Gaziantep, Konya, Şanlıurfa. However, based on the place of birth, the fact that the perpetrators and  suspects were mostly born in the Southeastern Anatolia Region (24 percent) and the Eastern Anatolia  Region (21 percent), shows that there is a relationship between patriarchy and rurality. it is possible to  say that the perpetrators of crimes are generally people with a low level of education and that the  incidence of honor-based crimes decreases as the level of education increases. If we talk about the  measures to be implemented in our country, gender equality and violence against women should be  added to the curriculum at all levels of education. Women's shelters, which were officially launched in  2006, should be activated, widespread and effective in all provinces and districts in order to save  women from male violence. Women's requests for protection and removal should be answered quickly  and the most effective protection measures should be taken.