HRW: Laws must be upheld in practice, not just on paper
LONDON (TrustLaw) - Inadequate enforcement of a flawed family-violence protection system leaves women and girls in Turkey vulnerable to domestic abuse, according to a new report published by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday.
The report, released ahead of a summit in Istanbul where Council of Europe ministers are set to ratify a new convention on violence against women on May 11, argues that although Turkish law includes provisions to protect abused women, officials make the system unpredictable and dangerous.
"With strong laws in place, it's inexcusable that Turkish authorities are depriving family-violence victims of basic protections," Gauri van Gulik, the author of the report, said. "Turkey has gone through exemplary reform on women's human rights, but police, prosecutors, judges and social workers need to make the system exemplary in practice, not just on paper."
Human Rights Watch interviewed 40 women between the ages of 14 and 65, who described various experiences of abuse which included being raped, stabbed, starved, kicked, beaten, shot, poisoned and imprisoned with animals.
The rights group also interviewed lawyers, social workers, women's groups and government officials for the report titled "'He loves you, he beats you': Family violence in Turkey and access to protection.”
Turkish law stipulates that a person abused by a family member under the same roof - male or female - can apply for a family court order requiring the offender to leave the home; surrender weapons; stay away from the victim and their children; refrain from violence, threats, property damage or from contacting the victim.
Although by law each municipality of 50,000 or more inhabitants is obliged to provide a shelter for abused women and children, the requirement has not been met, according to the report. Women told Human Rights Watch that some shelters have dismal conditions and inadequate security.
Women also told the rights group that police officers mocked them and sent them home to their abusers rather than helping them get protection orders, and that prosecutors and judges were slow to act on protection-order requests or improperly demanded evidence not required by the law.
"The extreme brutality that family members inflict on women and girls is bad enough, but it's even worse to know that a woman who finds the courage to escape and ask for protection might be insulted and sent right back to her abuser," van Gulik said.
Divorced and unmarried women are excluded from protection under the law.
Proposed amendments to widen the scope of the family-protection law were introduced to Turkey's parliament in March. They include proposals to include protections for unmarried women in relationships, financial support to victims and improved measures to protect victim information.
"At a time when Turkey is about to host governments from all over Europe to make a binding commitment to end violence against women, Turkey's government should take an honest look at its own shortcomings," van Gulik said. "Turkey needs to make changes so that its family violence protection system will live up to the new treaty both in design and implementation."
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