Turkey Acts To Better Protect Women From Abuse
by Selcan
Hacaoglu(AP and OfficialWire)ANKARA (TURKEY)
Turkey
Domestic Violence
Turkey's
Parliament marked International Women's Day on Thursday by approving a
package of laws aimed at better protecting women and children from abuse.
As it vies
for European Union membership, Turkey — a predominantly Muslim country
— is struggling to discard long-held cultural practices that denigrate
women in a largely patriarchal society. It also is fighting to curb
"honor killings" and murders of women deemed to have tarnished
the reputation of their relatives, sometimes by having a premarital affair
or a child out of wedlock.
Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan began the day by addressing a women's rights
conference in the southeastern city of Mardin. "We will provide legal
and financial assistance and shelters to the victims," he said in his
speech.
Parliament
quickly complied by passing laws in Ankara that increase penalties against
abusers of women and children, and allow police to intervene faster to
protect victims and to force abusers to wear electronic monitoring
devices. Parliament also promised to create more shelters for such
victims.
Meanwhile, a
crime and a protest also drew attention to the issue of women's rights in
Turkey.
Diyar
Bengitay, a 40-year-old Azeri mother of three, was shot and killed on
Thursday by a Turkish relative in Istanbul after she left home following
an argument with her husband, the state-run Anadolu Agency said. Police
said the attacker was mentally unstable.
Four
Ukrainian women's rights activists staged a topless demonstration in
Istanbul to protest domestic violence against women in Turkey.
The members
of Ukraine's Femen group chanted slogans and displayed banners during
their one-minute protest, with one reading: "Stop acid attacks!"
Using makeup, they also portrayed themselves women who had been beaten or
suffered acid burns at the hands of husbands or in-laws.
Police
quickly dragged the demonstrators to a vehicle and drove them away.
Before the
protest, Inna Shevchenko, another member of the women's group, told
Associated Press Television that their goal was to show the sufferings of
Muslim women to the world.
"So the
message for Turkish women who are celebrating Women's Day is not to wait
until your husband brings flowers or chocolates," said Shevchenko.
"Just remember about your rights. Go out on the street and fight for
that. This is the message."
In 2005
Turkey changed its penal code to remove many laws that discriminated
against women, made rape within marriage a crime, and barred sexual
harassment in the workplace.
Associated
Press cameraman Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul contributed.
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