‘AS IF They Really were Against Violence Against Women’

As regards the creation of a parliamentary investigation commission for "examining factors leading to violence towards women and determining the necessary measures", lawyer and women's rights activist Canan Arın remarks: "They are setting up this commission simply to temporize, acting AS IF they really were against violence towards women."

Recently, at the plenary session of the Turkish parliament, a resolution was reached to set up a parliamentary investigation commission for “examining factors leading to violence towards women and determining the necessary measures”. It has been announced that the investigation commission will have 19 members and work for 3 months in the first phase. The commission will draft a report based on the information gathered and assessments made during this period, and the said report will be discussed in the plenary session of the parliament.

Commenting on the said commission, lawyer and activist Canan Arın said, “I do not think the commission will achieve anything. They are setting up this commission simply to temporize, acting AS IF they really were against violence towards women. I do not think they have the political will to stop the violence towards women. They don’t even apply the existing legislation. First of all, they should stop issuing amnesties so often. They must provide “gender equality” training to judges, prosecutors, lawyers, bar associations, physicians, and the society at large. Most importantly, they should believe it themselves. Otherwise, I do not think that they will implement any decisions that might be taken by the commission -unless it reaches very conservative and reactionary decisions.” 

Feminist activist Berrin Sönmez likewise argued that the commission is only a method to distract the society and postpone the actual problems. Suggesting that the commission could indeed examine GREVIO’s (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) resolutions and publish an extensive report, Sönmez stated, “Yet they must do so without spending months in visits and meetings, etc. That is because, developments such as the case to shut down the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, might lead to early elections and the commission may become dysfunctional. As such, I think that the commission must act fast. The case against HDP may proceed very quickly. So, an extensive report must be penned in a short space of time. The commission should work to eliminate the current problems hampering the implementation of the Istanbul Convention and Law no. 6284. There is no need to draft a new law. A new law drafted in the existing environment would not be helpful at all. There is no need for a new piece of legislation. We think that the commission should instead work on eliminating the obstacles before the implementation of existing legislation.”