Dilan Babat

 

ANKARA - Noting that after the repeal of the Istanbul Convention, women started to take self-defense as a base for their lives, lawyer Döndü Kurşunoğlu said: ‘’Since the day the convention was abolished, there have been lots of femicides and this has reached to level of gendercide.’’

 

As a result of the AKP-MHP administration’s rhetoric and policies targeting women’s gains, the Istanbul Convention was repealed on July 1, with the decision of the AKP’s President Tayyip Erdoğan to terminate on March 20. At least 144 women were killed in the first six months of 2021 alone. From March 20, when the convention was terminated, to the end of June, at least 81 women were killed. According to the data we compiled from the news reflected in the press, 27 women were killed in July, eight women died suspiciously. While male violence is increasing, the danger for Law No. 6284 has not passed.

 

Lawyer Döndü Kurşunoğlu made evaluations regarding the Istanbul Convention and the Law No. 6284.

 

‘The convention is at a key point’

 

Stating that the Istanbul Convention entered into force in 2014, Döndü said: ‘’The Council of Europe Convention on the Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) aims to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence, which is a human rights violation. One of the most comprehensive international conventions determining the methods for it. It is also the first international document to define gender. For this reason, the Istanbul Convention is the guarantee of everyone who is exposed to discrimination on the basis of gender. It is at a key point in terms of empowering women, preventing violence, conducting effective investigations if not prevented, and ensuring gender equality.’’

 

‘Women based on self-defense for their lives’

 

Stating that the Istanbul Convention was not fully implemented and then it was terminated with a decision overnight, Döndü noted that everyone, from the police to the judges and prosecutors during the trial, resisted not to enforce the Convention. Döndü said: ‘’Women against the annulment of such a convention said, ‘If there is no convention, there is a street’. While saying this, women also based on self-defense for their lives. Since the day the convention was abolished, too many femicides began to occur, and this has reached to level of gendercide. As of August 12, 2020, the withdrawal agenda from the convention began to be established. After the Convention was terminated on March 20, many women's organizations, bar associations and many other institutions filed lawsuits with the Council of State for a stay of execution and annulment, while the 10th Chamber of the Council of State rejected the request for a stay of execution of the Presidential Decision regarding Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. For this reason, it is a contract that has been abolished by the arbitrariness of one man.’’

 

‘Request for shelter for men too’

 

Döndü pointed out that the dangers for the law no. 6284 did not pass after the abolition of the Convention, and said: ‘’Law No. 6284 states that a woman who has been subjected to violence must be protected, prevented and empowered. If the prevention part is not done, the protection part must be done. When a woman who has been subjected to violence goes to the police station, if she is in an urgent and vital situation, the woman should be placed in a shelter without waiting for the prosecutor's order. There is an obligation to provide legal and psychological support, if necessary, to the woman placed in the shelter. Both the Istanbul Convention and the Law No. 6284 have secured this situation. Discussed in the divorce commission in 2014; In this atmosphere, where there have been discussions about the Law No. 6284 recently, when a protection order is given to a woman who has been subjected to violence, some people use misogynistic rhetoric, saying, ‘If the perpetrator is removed from the house with a protection measure, the man who was removed also suffers a great deal’. And it was suggested that teachers’ houses should be made into shelters for men.’’

 

‘We must protect the law numbered 6284 for our lives’

 

Döndü said that the women who were subjected to violence, when they went to the police station, got the protection decision with the power they received from the Istanbul Convention and the law numbered 6284. ‘’When we go now, we are faced with rhetoric that the convention is repealed and that ‘the statement of women cannot be taken as a basis’. When we look at all this, the misogynistic mentality finds strength here. Therefore, we must enforce Law No. 6284 for our lives and lifes that whatever happens,’’ she said.