Star Women's Association released its Monitoring Report on Women's Testimonies and Combating Violence Against Women, prepared within the scope of the 25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Ruken Ay read the report at a press conference held at the Van Bar Association Tahir Elçi Meeting Hall.

Ay said that 23 women were murdered by men in Van in the last 22 months, and added: "13 cases of violence were observed in which the perpetrator was a member of the public security agency personnel."

Ay said that they direct most of the applicants to Van Bar Association, and added: "Due to the lack of shelters in Van and surrounding provinces, the number of applicants directed to ŞÖNİM, which works as the first step in the mechanism of preventing violence against women, has decreased."

Ay said: “The rate of applicants using KADES in continuous and multiple violent incidents is quite low. In face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 10 women, we observed that only 1 woman used the KADES application. Again, we can see that rural women do not have access to any support mechanism due to social dynamics and difficulty of access. 7 out of 10 women who participated in the report said that if they had known before, they would have taken action years ago and they would not have been subjected to violence for so many years."

Ay stated that 59 percent of the women who applied to the association in 2022 said that they were subjected to violence by their partner: "19 percent said that they were subjected to violence by their ex-husband, 11 percent by their partner, and 11 percent by male family members. In 2023, 61 percent of the women stated that they were subjected to violence by their domestic partners, 10 percent by their ex-husbands, 10 percent by their partners and 17 percent by male family members."

‘Kurdish speaking personnel should be employed’

As for gender equality and preventing violence against women, the report said: "Basic international regulations, to which Turkey is or is not a party, for the protection of women's human rights, especially CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention, should be well understood, adopted and implemented by the mechanisms to combat violence against women in Van.

Kurdish speaking personnel should be employed in both public institutions and non-governmental organizations working in the field of combating violence. Qualified personnel must be employed as defined in the Regulation on ŞÖNİM. Women should be provided with vocational training to participate in business life during and after their stay in the shelters."