Population size:
84,365,141 [1]
Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:
Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months against women= 11% but this is likely to be underreported.[2] Statistics show that domestic violence against women in Turkey has jumped to 75 percent in the last 15 years.[3] Women constitute 82 percent of all domestic violence victims, children, 6 percent; and the rest are men."[4]
Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:
No research.
Estimated % change due to COVID-19:
1,804 domestic violence incidents were recorded in Istanbul in March 2019 which increased to 2,493 cases in March 2020. This amounts to a 38.2% increase year on year.[5] There is No research. on the country as a whole, likely in line with UNFPA projections.
Current law and policy:
Turkey has introduced laws to protect women against violence. As the first country to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO), Turkey commits to continue its efforts to integrate the Convention into national legislation and translating it into the other areas of practice. Furthermore, Turkey commits to open a women’s shelter in each province in 2013, establish 14 pilot Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centres, monitor and evaluate the National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women and replicate the national research on domestic violence. In addition to launching national awareness raising campaigns on the issue, Turkey will expand gender equality trainings for civil servants and law enforcement, as well as for media and students, among other measures.
Public spending - Inadequate free or low-cost, extensive and reliable psychological counselling centres to satisfy the needs of women and children who have been subjected to domestic violence. Where these services do exist, there is high demand and a lack of staff which can result in low-quality service. A very small portion of the General Directorate on the Status of Women is allocated to the budget for psychological services for perpetrators of violence.[6]
Sources
[1] https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/turkey-population/
[2] UN Women, “Global Database on Violence Against Women – Turkey”, (evaw-global-database.unwomen.org)