Conference on Urgent Action to Stop Femicide 

“Femicide is Preventable”

The Conference on Urgent Action to Stop Femicide will be 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 will share 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, will be presented to the media. 

A study conducted in 2014-2015 by a team of five led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver, comprising data, court case, and media analysis as well as fieldwork findings regarding femicides occurring in the years 2009-2013, has been concluded. The fieldwork for this study was conducted in Ankara, Adana, Izmir, Trabzon, Van, Diyarbakir, and Istanbul. 

Half of Murderers Claim “Rejection” as Motive 

The study reveals that femicide essentially arises from denial of gender equality and sexism, and that these are organized, systematic, political murders carried out with the blatant or implicit approval of many institutions and segments of society. It shows once again that femicide is carried out against women by the men closest to them, who presume to possess absolute power of disposition over them, and who carry out such murders in response to women standing up to control and oppression. The “excuse” given by one out of every two murderers is jealousy, or having been left or rejected. In other words, women do not have the right to leave or reject their partners, or make choices of their own free will—these rights are not recognized when it comes to women!

The Murderers are in Our Homes!

According to the findings of the study, 90% of women killed, in other words, nearly all of them, were murdered by a husband, fiancé, boyfriend, ex-husband/fiancé, ex-boyfriend, or father, son, or other male relative; in other words, they were murdered by the men closest to them. The murderer of one out of every two women: her husband!

Murders are Happening Right Before Our Very Eyes 

The study also revealed that of the 949 cases of femicide which occurred in the years 2009-2013, one out of every five occurred in the street or in a public place. In other words, women are being killed while walking down the street, while sitting in a tea garden, while going to the prosecutor’s office to file a complaint, while supposedly under police protection and supervision of the state—that is, women are being murdered in our very midst!

Femicide is Preventable 

Another important finding of the study: these murders, which occur with the blatant or implicit approval of many institutions and segments of society, in plain sight, thanks to a kind of “license to kill” granted to men, can be prevented by means of political will and effective practices, and the empowerment and solidarity of women… And so at this conference, together with all of the findings of this study upon which the proposed plan of action is based, all of the aforementioned aspects of femicide will be open for discussion.

A Guide to Reporting on Femicide 

The study also shows that the murderers of women sometimes get advice from the very law-enforcers who arrest them, in order to get lower sentences; that they sometimes get inspiration from the media which reports on these murders in such a way as to validate them; and that they more often “execute” the women according to intricate design rather than due to an outburst of rage. These findings therefore also revealed a need for a Guide to Reporting on Femicide. This guide, prepared by the Media Working Group, which includes the participation of female journalists, will also be introduced and disseminated at the conference and later presented to those working in the media.

The Plan of Action Will Be Finalized at the Conference 

At this conference, held with the support of the European Union and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and to which the public is invited to participate and contribute, the Urgent Plan of Action to Stop Femicide, which has been drawn up by the Filmmor Women’s Cooperative in cooperation with the Van Women’s Association, Ceren Women’s Association, Izmir Independent Women’s Initiative, Izmir Women’s Solidarity Association, Women’s Solidarity Foundation, KAMER Foundation, Black Sea Women’s Solidarity Foundation, and the Federation of Women’s Societies of Turkey, will be finalized. Within the framework of the Femicide is Preventable campaign, which will be publicly launched at this conference, all central and local administrations, the media and the public, will be called upon to prevent femicide, and to carry out the Urgent Plan of Action to Stop Femicide.

#FemicideIsPreventable

Conference on Urgent Action Plan to Stop Femicide 

Location: Istanbul Technical Univerity (ITU) Maçka Campus Social Facilities Conference Hall 

Date: 27-28 November 2015 

Address: ITU Maçka Campus Social Facilities Building Teşvikiye – Istanbul / 0212- 296 31 47