No more reduced sentences in cases of violence against women

The reduction of sentences for people convicted of violence toward women on the grounds of good behavior and unjust provocation may be abolished. The Ministry of Family and Social Policies has drafted a set of regulations to amend a controversial law in the Turkish Penal Code that favors a reduction in sentences.

The abolition of the reduction covers crimes such as murder, rape and domestic violence that target both women and children.

If enacted, the regulations may prevent a repeat of cases where convicts, some sentenced to life, are eligible for lighter sentences if courts rule they exhibited "good behavior" during the trial or murdered cheating spouses who "unjustly provoked them." For instance, a convict charged with the rape of a 70-year-old paralyzed and blind woman in the city of Diyarbakır got away with eight years when the court ruled he was well-mannered during the hearings. A husband who ran over and killed the wife he divorced after stabbing her eight times had his sentence reduced to 18 years from life as the murder was after the wife confessed she conceived the couple's two children with a man she cheated on him with. The justification was that the ex-wife "provoked" the man by confession.

Activists and legal experts have been calling for the abolition of sentence reduction, especially after the murder of Özgecan Aslan, a university student murdered in the city of Mersin when she reportedly resisted a rape attempt. Aslan's brutal murder epitomized violence toward women and raised concerns that the prime suspect in the case may get a reduced sentence, as he already claimed he hit the 20-year-old girl "in self-defense," while she was traveling alone in his passenger minibus.

The ministry will present the bill to Parliament after further changes by the Ministry of Justice. It entirely abolishes sentence reduction in the abovementioned crimes, as reductions are linked to the interpretation of laws by judges in each case.

Violence against women perpetrated by their spouses is a major cause of concern, as the public outcry against "femicide" continues to escalate. The government has launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the issue alongside an action plan to tackle the violence. Amid new measures, which will soon be implemented nationwide, is a tracking system for domestic violence perpetrators and tougher sentences in cases involving violence against women.

Reduced sentences by local courts is occasionally overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, the ultimate judicial authority, and sometimes commuted sentences in domestic violence cases are revoked due to legal complaints lodged by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Yet, existing laws leave little choice for judges other than to implement them in favor of the defendant.