Another woman fell victim to male violence on Friday as Turkey struggles to reduce femicides and address concerns on domestic violence. A suspect shot dead his former girlfriend and her flatmate before taking his own life in Istanbul.
Police and paramedics rushed to the fourth-floor flat in Istanbul’s Şişli district when gunshots rang out. Inside, they found the bodies of Y.S.B., his ex-girlfriend B.V. and Ö.A., who was living with B.V. at the time of the murder. Media outlets reported that Y.S.B. left behind a suicide note.
B.V., 28, had a restraining order against Y.S.B., media outlets also reported, apparently issued after his threats.
Friends and families of the victims broke into tears as they arrived at the scene, while police cordoned off the area, removing bodies under tight measures. “They were very likable people. They have been living here for more than one year,” Gökhan Deniz, a neighbor, told Demirören News Agency (DHA) about B.V. and Ö.A.
B.V. was an engineer working at a company of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu condemned the murders in a tweet. “Unfortunately, male violence took away a young employee of ours. May Allah give his blessing to her soul. I convey my condolences to her friends and family. Enough with this violence, this mindset,” he tweeted.
B.V.’s death came on the day a new law against violence targeting women was enacted. The law brings a string of amendments to current regulations against femicide and domestic violence, including an end to lenient sentences for perpetrators and definitive prison terms for stalking.
The latest figures, dating back to March, show some 50 women were killed in femicides between January and March, while authorities say this number is lower compared to the same period last year. Last year, 307 women fell victim to murders in the hands of their current or former spouses, relatives or men whose advances they rejected, according to official figures.
Turkey has harsh sentences in place for perpetrators, as well as restrictions for potential perpetrators threatening women. Police response is also swift thanks to a new app exclusively developed for women under threat. Yet, domestic violence and murders still plague the country's women. A patriarchal mindset seeing women as "property" of men is to blame in most murders, which are usually perpetrated by men women sought to divorce or leave. Most murders also stem from "jealousy" or as perpetrators often defend themselves, a way "to clean up their honor."
