United Nations Turkey Country Team Statement

The United Nations Turkey Country Team  condemns the horrendous murder of Emine Bulut and of other women who have tragically lost their lives due to femicide. We stand in solidarity with all women and men of Turkey who are taking a stand against and working to prevent and end violence against women and girls.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today. It occurs worldwide, cutting across all nationalities, ethnicities, generations, and spheres of our societies. At its most extreme, it takes lives and ruins communities. Every day 137 women across the world are killed by intimate partners or other family members. The killing of women by their partner is often the culmination of long-term violence and can be prevented.

We recognize the considerable progress that Turkey has made with regards legislation to combat violence against women. Turkey was the first country to ratify in 2012 the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The Istanbul Convention – a ground-breaking international agreement, in line with the global standards set out in the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – provides comprehensive framework to prevent violence, protect survivors and prosecute perpetrators, backed by coordinated and comprehensive policies and allocated resources.

We call for the full and effective implementation of the Istanbul Convention. We stand ready to continue supporting the Turkish government, civil society, including women’s organizations, and all relevant stakeholders in these efforts. These include further strengthening the legal framework and its implementation, improving services for survivors, and addressing the root causes of violence against women and girls, by tackling wider gender inequalities and challenging gender stereotypes, hate speech and attitudes that lead to discrimination and condone and incite violence.

We join the numerous institutions, organizations and individuals in Turkey who have called for an end to femicide and to gender-based violence. All members of society, each and every one us, can help to stop this preventable global scourge and to reach the goal of creating a society free from all forms of violence against women and girls. In the words of the UN Secretary General António Guterres on the occasion of the 2018 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women: “Not until the half of our population represented by women and girls can live free of fear, violence and everyday insecurity, can we truly say we live in a fair and equal world.”