Turkey’s femicide toll soars amid coronavirus lockdowns
Women’s rights groups are calling for urgent action to protect victims of domestic violence in Turkey, where coronavirus restrictions leave vulnerable women trapped with their abusers.
The “stay home, stay safe” mantra against the coronavirus is having dreadful — and even deadly — consequences for women in Turkey, where, activists warn, measures to contain the outbreak are exacerbating the rampant problem of femicide and domestic violence in the country.
Women’s rights groups are urging the government to review and enhance measures to protect victims of domestic violence as they remain trapped with their abusers, often deprived of any help from authorities paralyzed by the pandemic.
At least 18 women have been killed across Turkey, 12 of them at home, since March 11, when Ankara confirmed its first COVID-19 case, according to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, a civic group dedicated to fighting violence against women. The killers included spouses, partners, ex-husbands and ex-partners as well as male relatives of the victims, the platform’s tally shows.
“Women are being told to stay home, but homes are the most dangerous places for [some of] them,” Gulsum Kav, a spokesperson for the platform, told Al-Monitor.
