While a disturbing trend in domestic violence cases has hit Turkey in recent years, 47,000 female victims of domestic violence were offered protection by the government during the first six months of 2016, according to authorities and Turkey's Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan-Kaya, who said more than 70,000 women have sought government protection in cases involving their spouses over the past three years.In a discussion with lawmakers, Sayan-Kaya answered questions on the disturbing phenomenon which has left some 230 women dead this year, according to unofficial figures provided by a website which tracks cases of violence against women. The minister told lawmakers that the ministry runs roughly 137 shelters for female victims of domestic violence while providing employment for 572 women staying in the shelters in the first half of 2016.The minister asserted that 7,300 women and children were given refuge in shelters during the same period. Domestic violence and the murder of women by their husbands, partners and relatives have long been a thorn in Turkey's side and the broader media coverage in the recent years has made this scar on the society become even more visible.