Turkey Officially Withdraws From Istanbul Convention That Protected Women From Violence

Turkey Officially Withdraws From Istanbul Convention That Protected Women From Violence

Violence against women has been an issue and not one that started overnight. Over the years, this violence against women has taken different forms but the core of it has remained the same. After many years of tried and tested laws and treaties signed between countries, the attempts to curb the violence against women have shown some positive results. But that’s definitely not the end of it. More steps by countries worldwide need to be made to ensure the protection of women. And where there are most countries doing their best to tackle the issue, there are countries like Turkey that are doing otherwise. Recently, the President of Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, formally withdrew from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention that revokes the treaty that promised the protection of women against violence.

Erdogan believes this to be a step in the forward direction rather than backward. Withdrawing from the treaty means that the country is not held accountable by any of the women’s rights groups nor by any western countries. Even though an appeal was made to the court to stop the withdrawal, it was rejected. Erdogan has revealed an “Action Plan for Combating Violence against Women” on Thursday. The plan aims to review judicial processes, improve women’s protection services, and gather data on violence against women.

“Some groups are trying to present our official withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on July 1st as going backward… Just like our fight against violence towards women did not start with the Istanbul Convention, it won’t end with our withdrawal,” Erdogan said.

Also Read: Women Posting Black And White Photos With #ChallengeAccepted Could Actually Be Hurting A Women’s Right Protest Against Femicide In Turkey

In March, a statement by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications was issued that stated that the Istanbul Convention had been “hijacked” by everyone “attempting to normalize homosexuality – which is incompatible with Turkey’s social and family values.” His ideas regarding homosexuality and violence against women have raised doubts amongst the people of Turkey.

On Thursday, Erdogan even commented on the fact that Turkey’s traditional family values and gender values have always been about curbing violence against women and fighting to protect their mothers, wives, and daughters’ rights as well as their honour. 

The women groups and LGBTQ+ groups in Turkey as well as allies have been protesting against this decision by the President. According to them, the Istanbul Convention’s main aims—protection, prevention, criminal prosecution, policy coordination, and identification of gender-based violence—are of extreme importance for women of the country. They provide them with hope and protection from the violence that they face.

In fact, reports from the data collected by the We Will Stop Femicide group reveal that in only 2021, over 189 women were murdered, in 2020 409 were murdered, and hundreds of others have been found dead under mysterious circumstances. The pulling back from the treaty that ensures protection from violence against women will let these murders and other forms of violence go unchecked.

Those in power need to take steps to protect women from violence and any other form of abuse. We need to really ensure that the society we live in is safe for our women to grow and nurture. However, for now, the picture looks very bleak for Turkey.

Ritu Sanghvi

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