The government is working on a new draft bill that aims to address domestic violence and femicides, two complex issues plaguing women in Turkey. The bill, whose details will be made public by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 8 International Women’s Day, will focus on severe sentences for perpetrators.
The Ministry of Justice is putting the final touches on the bill before it is submitted to Parliament for approval. The bill will particularly address the issue of "release with judiciary control," a common verdict in most domestic violence cases and sometimes, even in homicides targeting women. Such court verdicts often stir up public outrage while legal experts say verdicts stem from a loose interpretation of existing laws. Judiciary control, in different cases, may involve a ban on travel abroad and in its harshest form, means house arrest. The new bill will increase prison terms and end the practice of release with judiciary control in such cases.
Bekir Bozdağ, appointed as Justice Minister in January, has signaled harsher sentences for perpetrators of domestic violence and femicides. The minister recently held meetings with female lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to hear their opinions and suggestions on a new bill. The deputies had called upon the ministry to take new steps, especially on the need for a new legal definition for stalking, to revise the rules on "good conduct" and interpretation of laws. Courts can issue more lenient sentences in domestic violence cases based on "good" behavior of the defendant throughout the trial and even based on the outfit they wore to the hearings.
The draft bill will handle all legal aspects of crimes targeting spouses and femicides and cover protection for victims as well as punishment of perpetrators. No exception will be provided to defendants in cases of violence against women, in terms of judiciary control, while prison terms will be more severe. Under current laws, perpetrators in most homicide cases can be eligible for parole after serving 24 years of their term, if they are sentenced to life imprisonment. This period decreases further if they are sentenced to any term below life imprisonment.
