Doors that open the way for violence 

2025-09-23 12:03:54


	 

	Pelşin Çetinkaya

	 

	ADANA - Cemre Topal, who commented on the causes of femicide and impunity policies, stated that the problem stems from the male-dominated system and the failure to actively enforce the law.

	 

	Violence and killings against women are not just individual tragedies; they are also a deep social wound. Fueled by the state's impunity policies, this violence has now entered a new phase. Every day, thousands of women are targeted by physical, psychological, economic, or sexual violence. At the root of this violence lies a deep-rooted patriarchal structure and deepening gender inequality. 

	 

	The state's policies of impunity not only obstruct justice but also legitimize violence and embolden perpetrators. In the current system, where legal protection mechanisms are inadequate, women struggle every day to survive. According to data compiled by our agency on the increasingly intractable problem of femicide, at least 201 women were killed by men in the first eight months of 2025.

	 

	Cemre Topal, a member of the Gender and Law Studies group, shared her assessment with our agency. 

	 

	‘Problems arise in the patriarchal system’

	 

	Cemre Topal, who states that women construct society, says, “When Simone de Beauvoir said, ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman,’ we can understand that she was actually referring to a process of social construction. Therefore, we believe that a socially constructed womanhood also constructs society. In other words, the woman formed by that social assumption also shapes society. Therefore, within the construction of womanhood, whatever kind of patriarchal system is desired, women are molded accordingly. This is precisely where the problem arises. However, today we see that female genocide is prevalent in countries where there are wars, destruction, corruption, and poverty. In countries where laws are enforced, there is no war, and the standard of living is average, we can see that women's rights are at a more advanced level and massacres are rare."

	 

	‘The failure of policies and the law to function effectively embolden perpetrators’

	 

	Cemre Topal stated that countries where alternative solutions have been developed encounter fewer problems, saying, “For example, in Spain, we can say that problems have been minimized as a result of changes made due to pressure from the feminist movement on the laws. These are good examples for us. When we look at the issue more holistically, we can see that violence against women is not an isolated form of violence, but rather a structure that shapes society. When we look at the narrowing of politics, the tendency towards war, the authoritarianism of power, the belligerence of power, the rampant presence of organized crime in the streets, the reversal of the rule of law, the trampling of the law, and the fact that even if the principle of the rule of law still has some validity, it is currently being invalidated, all contribute to the audacity of the perpetrators of femicide." 

	 

	The perception of women's bodies as a battlefield in wars

	 

	Cemre Topal, who states that poverty is also a major trigger for violence, says, "This unjust perspective, which is reflected in conflicts spilling onto the streets, mafias, and impunity, not only encourages violence, but also the impoverishment of the people limits women's options. And this forces individuals to submit to violence even more. This cycle of poverty and violence closes the exit doors for women. Because poverty hits the household first. 

	 

	So, in addition to all this, of course, the propensity for war in our own geography, as I mentioned earlier, and the eagerness for war are also very visible. You know, women's bodies are seen as a front line in wars. This perception as a front line is precisely the manifestation of patriarchy intertwined with militarism. All of this first reinforces the inequality in the perception of gender. After reinforcing it, it encourages the perpetrators to subjugate women even more, with greater courage on the path to subjugation."