The Şahmaran Women's Platform published its "2022 Violence Report" on the city of Mardin. Berivan Güneş read the report at a press conference held in the building where the unions affiliated to the Confederation of Public Workers Unions (KESK) are located.

The report prepared covers the dates between January and December 2022, said Güneş, adding: "We are witnessing that the state does not fulfill its responsibility to protect and prevent massacres of women, suspicious deaths, harassment, rape and sexual assaults against children. The impunity policies of the judiciary encourage men to commit crimes and women are excluded from their legal guarantees.”

7 women killed

At least 10 women died suspiciously in Mardin in 2022 and most of the deaths were caused by falling from a height, Güneş said, adding: “At least 7 women were murdered either by their husbands or relatives, and at least 22 women were sexually assaulted.”

Güneş noted that the biggest reason for the increase in deaths under suspicious circumstances and femicides is that the police do not properly address complaints and do not implement the suspension decisions.

228 children have been sexually abused

Noting that in 2022, 270 women applied to the Mardin Bar Association legal aid unit to file a divorce and 112 women to file alimony cases, and requested legal aid, Güneş said that at least 5 children were murdered in the city, and that at least 228 children were harassed and raped according to the data reflected in the courts. Güneş pointed out that it was determined that at least 200 children under the age of 18 were abused and raped under the name of marriage.

Impunity for sex offenders in uniform

Güneş described the impunity policy that emerges in crimes committed using the immunity granted by wearing a uniform as a "special war policy of the state" and added that “The spiral of violence, which has become clear as a system policy, causes an increase in massacres of women."