31-Year-Old Mother In Turkey Arrested For Stabbing Her Husband To Death After Repeatedly Beating And Raping Her Is Released
There has been an unexpected move by a court in Turkey, which has released a Turkish woman who murdered her husband after he viscously assaulted and tortured her. Activist groups had said that the murder charge brought against the woman was indicative of the way the Turkish state, and much of Turkish society, treat women and girls.
Melek Ipek, who is 31, was handcuffed and repeatedly raped by her husband. She was viscously beaten and tortured and was then left with her two children while her husband left home. When he returned, there was another altercation and Ms. Ipek stabbed her husband to death. She was then arrested and was going to be placed on trial for murder. If she had been convicted. she could have faced an entire life behind bars.
Women’s rights groups and Ipek’s supporters had said the act was in self-defence and that she should have been given treatment and a psychiatric evaluation after she was detained. They believe that this would have shown her to be a victim as oppose to a perpetrator. An image of the battered and bruised Ms. Ipek was widely circulated online in support of her cause.
Unexpectedly, a judge agreed with the argument that the killing was in self-defence, and Ipek was freed yesterday.
Women’s rights are a major issue in Turkey, where violence against women is said to be endemic. Activists say that this has been made worse by the hard-line conservative ideals of the current Turkish regime under Recep Erdogan, and as a result of the authorities refusing to get involved in domestic disturbances which are often classed as personal domestic matters as oppose to crimes.
266 women are killed a year in Turkey in incidents of domestic violence according to the state, but other says they toll is much higher and that many murders are not properly recorded or ignored. In the first seven months of Erdogan’s leadership, it is estimated that almost 1,000 women were murdered in Turkey.
Berrin Sonmez, an activist and commentator on women’s issues, says:
“In Turkey at least three women are being killed every day. More important, we observe that murders of women have become more violent.”
Turkey made the decision earlier this year to withdraw from The Istanbul Convention, an international treaty that was set up to combat violence against women across the world. The Turkish state says that it withdrew from the treaty because women are already protected by domestic Turkish law. However, many activists see it simply as a way for Erdogan to appeal to his extreme Islamic voter base.
[h/t: The New York Times] via Thinking Humanity https://ift.tt/3ejclwu
Photo: Hürriyet
She Marketplace – eCommerce platform for women and women empowerment. Every dollar you spend on our platform empowers women somewhere. Women Empowering Women.
Join SheStrong #Queendom Women Empowerment group for more inspiration and support.
Leave a Reply