http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=statistics-on-violence-against-women---for-first-page-2011-03-07Every day, a woman is killed in Turkey in the name of “honor,” something that should be stopped immediately, the United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, said in a statement for International Women’s Day.
“Four out of 10 women are facing violence ... and this should be stopped urgently,” said the formal statement, which was issued by Zahidul Huque, the UNFPA Representative in Turkey.
In Turkey ...
- 1 million girls are not going to school
- 4 million women have no formal education
- 4 out of 10 women face violence in their daily lives
- 1 woman dies every day in an ‘honor killing’
In Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia last year...
- 72 women were murdered, including 10 under the age of 18
- 113 committed suicide, including 28 minor girls
- 73 attempted suicide, including 10 minor girls
- 9 women were raped or harassed by security forces
- 7 women were forced into prostitution by family violence
Figures reported by the Turkish press recently show that an average of five women are killed each day in Turkey. Last year, 72 women – including 10 under the age of 18 – were murdered in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, according to a report released for Women’s Day by the Human Rights Association, or İHD’s, branch in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. In the same region, 113 women, including 28 minor girls, committed suicide and 73, including 10 minor girls, attempted to take their own lives in 2010, according to the same İHD statistics, the Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported Saturday.
The İHD’s Diyarbakır branch also reported that nine women were raped or harassed by security forces, while seven women in the region were forced into prostitution by family violence last year.
Almost 1 million girls in Turkey are not going to school and 4 million women have no formal education, according to the UNFPA report. The organization said it was working intensively with Turkish stakeholders to promote an enabling environment for women-friendly communities. “This would be done by mainstreaming gender into the planning process of local authorities through local dialogue with women’s NGOs, grassroots organizations and governmental institutions at national and local levels. We expect some private philanthropic organizations to join this innovative program,” its statement said.
The UNFPA’s Turkey office is working in close partnership with the Turkish government, civil-society organizations, other U.N. agencies and the media to fulfill Turkey’s commitments to the Millennium Development Goals, the International Conference on Population and Development, or ICPD, Program of Action, Turkey’s EU accession and the ratification of the Optional Protocol to Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, the organization said.