Femicide is Preventable Campaign has Started

Women Organizations Create Urgent Plan of Action to Stop Femicide

The Conference on Urgent Action to Stop Femicide had been held at the Istanbul Technical University’s Maçka Campus Social Facilities on November 27th and 28th, as the first stage of the “Femicide is Preventable” campaign. At this conference, where participants shared the results of research conducted on femicides occurring in 2009-2013, as well as experiences in the struggle to stop femicide thus far, An Urgent Plan of Action to Stop Femicide will be drawn up. In addition, the “Guide to Reporting on Femicide,” which has been composed as part of the campaign, had been presented to the media. 

In the first session of the conference on Urgent Action to Stop Femicide that held at the Istanbul Technical University’s Maçka Campus Social Facilities; Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, İdil Engindeniz, Gülsün Güvenli and Özlem Danacı Yüce shared Femicide Action Research and analysis of media and also Melek Özman shared the draft of Femicide Action Plan referring the research.

Femicide Action Research / Data Analysis

• When the answer of the question “if the victim was a man, would you still kill him?” is “no” then that murder is a femicide.
• Between 2009-2013 there were 949 femicides: 2009 : 118 / 2010 : 249 / 

     2011 : 234 / 2012 : 160 / 2013: 188

• Murderers of women: 75% Husband/Ex-husband, Boyfriend/Ex-boyfriend, 20% Male relatives
• “Excuse” of femicides: 55% Separation, Rejection, Jealousy, Virtue
• Murder tools by femicides: 48% Firearms, 38% Sharp objects
• Locations of femicides: 38% Couple’s house, 26% Woman’s house, 29% In public 

Femicide Action Research / Fieldwork Findings 

• Prior to the femicides almost all of the women have been exposed to violance. Often security forces are aware of this, but women are not taken seriously enough. Femicides are blatantly coming closer.
• Murderers of women abandon the women from their environment and surroundings that might support them and therefore women have been isolated.
• The main reasons for the femicides are: Women’s empowerment, women’s resistance against the absolute ownership of men and want to make their own decisions about their lives. 
• Murderers of women were protected by all the authorities during the judicial process and they act as they almost have “a license to kill” and got supported from the security forces and the media and moreover show the femicide like it was a “right thing to do“.
• In fight against violence and in preventing crime the most basic steps are the women solidarity, women’s organizations and the women who support each other in local.

Femicide Action Research / Media Analysis

• Femicides can be founded in the media under random crime news.
• Femicides are almost invisible regarding both the quantity and the content of incidents. 
• The news is usually murder/event oriented.
• Internet news is relatively better but the TV news is the ones that gives less space to femicides and produces a negative expression as well.
• The News contains expressions and language that used in titles of femicides which banalize the murders and even legitimate them.

Çiçek Tahaoğlu, Emel Armutçu, Feyza Akınerdem, Göksel Göksu and Sibel Yükler participated in the session of “How femicides is being reported and how it should be reported”, where the media language and the process of reporting the femicides were discussed.

Instructions to Report Femicides

“Guide to Reporting on Femicide” was shared with the participants that shows the murderers of women ask for hints to the law enforcements on how to minimize their charges. The murderers are sometimes inspired by the media who legitimizes the murders and moreover it can be read how the murders were actually explicitly planned instead of just sudden rage acts.

Canan Güllü, Eray Karınca, Jülide Aslan Çapar, Nebahat Akkoç and Yasemin Öz shared some words in the session of “Struggle Experience Strategies on Avoid Femicides”.

• The existing laws on prevention of femicides are sufficient. There are problems in practice. The Problem is the point of view of the jurists and legal experts and how they interpret the incidents. The Problem is in practice.
• Neither the state nor the social society are not familiar and close with the incidents. The status quo has sovereignty.
• “Sale in fashion this year: Red”, “Style: Tie and jacket”, “Discount reasons: “He was taking frequently shower.”, “He was wearing a red dress”, “She has red lipsticks”, “She was wearing tight leggings”.

Çiğdem Aydın, Mekiye Güzel, Nazmiye Ülker, Yurdusev Özsökmenler and Özge Yolcu shared their experiences in the last session of the conference “Political Approaches to Avoid Femicides”.

• The future of femicides depend on taking precautions
• Co-Presidency in the local administrations and managements for women politics in every city and district.
• “Sexism kills, women solidarity keeps alive”
• Women have to be build up stronger against violence and whoever creates violence must be stopped!

Action Plan will Be Finalized

The draft of Femicide Action Plan that has been prepared from Filmmor Women’s Cooperative with the contributions of Van Women’s Union, Ceren Women’s Union, Izmir Independent Women’s Initiative, Izmir Women’s Solidarity Association, Women’s Solidarity Foundation, KAMER Foundation, Karadeniz Women’s Solidarity Union, Turkey Women Associations Federation, will be finalized and will be shared with the public in the coming days. For the “Femicide is Preventable” campaign which has started with the conference that was supported by the European Union and the Heinrich Böll Charity Foundation; all central and local administrations, media and public will be alarmed to participate for put Femicide Action Plan into practice.