Forensic Research & Technology

Biography

Biography: Nergis Canturk

Abstract

Femicide which is considerably difficult to take under control is the most brutal dimension of violence against women which is a very heatedly debated social problem.  Murdering women is the most extreme form of women rights violation. Femicide is a serious social problem which has been taking place all around the world throughout history irrespective of language, religion, nation, level of education and socio-economic status.  While violence that weakens the women, isolates them from social life, and trivializes their presence in the community as individuals, is an irrepressible concern in the world, several serious measures have been taken since 1970s in order to prevent violence against women, however, the consequences do not sustain the expectations. In Turkey, one third of the women are exposed to physical violence. High Criminal Courts handle cases related to aggravated life imprisonment, life sentence, and cases requiring more than 10 years imprisonment. Homicide and homicidal attempts are the most indictable offences taken up by Heavy Panel Courts. In this study, 44 case documents of 102 settled cases directly associated with femicide and femicidal attempts took place between 2010 and 2014 proceeded by Ankara High Criminal Courts, and decision sheets of 58 cases whose case documents could not be reached, were scrutinized. SPSS 16.0 program was made use of to analyze the collected data.  At the end of the study, it was found that the average age of women who were the victims of femicide or femicidal attempts was 39.74 (SD=17.15), average age of perpetrators was 40.59 (SD=13.2). There is no statistically significant correlation between the difference in the average ages of injured parties and perpetrators (p <0.05). It was shown that the proportion of injured parties exposed to violence by their partners was %62.7, and there is a significant correlation between both parties marital status (p<0.001). Women who were murdered or attempted to be murdered were exposed to this situation by their husbands’ %46.1, their boyfriends’ %11.8, and their ex-husbands %4.9. Femicide is a bleeding wound in both in Turkey and all over the world. Although, with the help of government and non-governmental organizations, there have been persevering attempts to end it, however, the rate of femicide takes place every year is increasing. An increase in the number of people, both males and female, who can reach qualified education all over the country, ensuring gender equality in the society and development in the socio-economic status of individuals are required measures to stop femicide and any kinds of violence against women.