Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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22.22 A Turkish Daily News article dated 8 September 2006 stated that:
“The Women's and Children's Affairs Ministry will hold a summit at the Prime Ministry on violence against women and ‘honor killings’ today, with representatives of relevant state bodies, unions, nongovernmental organizations and universities present. The summit aims to draft an action plan to prevent violence against women and honor killings and to implement the measures as soon as possible. Çubukçu had previously said that laws and mechanisms protecting women from violence and punishing abuse were already in place. State Minister for Women's and Children's Affairs Nimet Çubukçu, speaking on Wednesday, said they would be discussing what had been done up until now and what could be done in the future to stop this social disease.” [23e]
22.23 As reported by BIA News Center in September 2006, ‘Women Seek Help Most for Domestic Violence’:
“Istanbul Bar Association Women's Rights Enforcement Center (KHUM) records show that most applications made to this legal counsel service come from women seeking a divorce and 95 out of every 100 women applying last year have complained of being subjected to violence at home. KHUM records for the year 2005 show that 2,827 women applied to the Bar Association's women's rights center. 71 percent of them were complainants, 15.8 percent defendants. The data shows that 59.9 percent of applicants were seeking a divorce and 12.8 percent were seeking assistance in enforcing alimony payments. 9.7 percent of the applicants came to the center for violations of Law 4320 while 8.6 percent applied for alimony.” [102d]
Women’s Organisations in Turkey
22.24 As noted in the Amnesty International’s document ‘Turkey: Implementation of reforms is key’, dated 11 March 2005:
“It is vital that the government takes urgent steps now to ensure that the recent legislative changes become real and that they are fully implemented by ensuring that adequate funding is available from their central budget; otherwise there is the risk that the reforms will be meaningless. The need for shelters is especially pressing as they are critical in situations where women’s lives are at risk. Despite the legal changes introduced, there is still a drastic shortage of shelters in Turkey - there are only 13 shelters in a country with a population of approximately 70 million.” [12g]
22.25 The USSD 2005 report also noted that:
“The government’s Institution for Social Services and Orphanages operated 14 shelters for female victims of domestic violence and rape with a total capacity of 259. Municipalities and NGOs also operated a number of shelters. Under legislation adopted in July [2005], municipalities with populations greater than 50 thousand were required to establish shelters for women. During the year a number of municipalities opened shelters, or prepared to do so, in accordance with the legislation.” [5b] (Section 5)

22.26 In an article by Amnesty International News (undated) stated that:

“According to a recent European Union report there should be one shelter per 10,000 head of population. Turkey, with a population of 70 million people should therefore have approximately 7,000 shelters. In reality, there are approximately 14 ‘guesthouses’ and 19 community-based services to support women experiencing violence at home… Women in Turkey want shelters. According to one study in which 33 per cent of women reported being beaten by their husbands, and 26 per cent reported being beaten by their father before marriage, 91 per cent of women stated that in the difficult times that they encountered ill treatment, they wanted to be able to find shelter from a social foundation.” [12b]
22.27 The Amnesty International News article further stated that:
“At present, the role of women’s rights activists is crucial to ensure that at least a small proportion of women obtain protection – some of these organizations are the:
 Women’s Support and Solidarity Centre in Antalya,

 the Purple Roof Foundation in Istanbul,

 the Women’s Centre (Ka-Mer) in Diyarbakýr,

 the Women’s Solidarity Foundations (KADAV) in Ankara and Izmit.
A worker at an NGO told Amnesty International, “Everyone sends women who have experienced violence to us. Everyone. [sic] The government, the police, everyone. We don’t have the facilities to meet the demand’.” [12b]
22.28 The EC 2006 report however recorded that:
“There is still a need to further increase the provision of shelters for women subjected to domestic violence. (Footnote: according to official sources there are 17 shelters for women established under the Social Services and Child Protection Institution (SHÇEK) growing to 30 if those established by other institutions are included. However, these figures are considered tentative.) The provision in the Law on Municipalities, adopted by Parliament in July 2004 is not yet fully implemented. All municipalities with a population greater that 50 000 should provide a shelter.” [71a] (p18)
22.29 A recent Amnesty International article on Turkey: Shelters need government support stated that, “In 2005, a legal provision came into force in Turkey for municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to open at least one shelter for survivors of domestic violence. According to this law, over 3,000 shelters should be opened around the country. To date, not a single municipality has established a new shelter because of limited budgets and a lack of political will.” [12p]