Ýzmir Bar Association president Sema Pekdaþ said in a press conference that the Bill on the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Family protected the family and not the woman and added that it will not be possible to protect women from violence if this way of reasoning goes on.

Pekdaþ noted that the title of the bill reflected the discourse which does not consider the woman as a subject but puts the family in the first place. “Sincere efforts are necessary to prevent violence against women in Turkey,” said Pekdaþ.

Likewise, the End the Violence Platform criticized the government for not taking into consideration their demands of improvement of the bill.

“We demand a 24-hour open shelter organized according to women’s associations’ demands, the inclusion of shelters and sexual violence crisis points in the bill, the possibility for women’s associations to take legal part in violence cases, financial aid for women from the ministry and the coverage of hospital fees by the government in cases of violence,” said the Platform.