Ending violence against women and girls

Despite international agreements, laws, and policy commitments to combat violence against women and girls, more effort is needed to end all forms of violence against women in Türkiye.

Within the legislative and policy commitments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Law No.6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence against Women (2012) and National Action Plan on Combating Violence and Women (2021-2025) and related annual action plans, UN Women Türkiye works in collaboration with public and civil society stakeholders to combat all forms and manifestations of violence against women resulting from gender inequalities.

According to the National Research on Violence against Women from 2014:
•    4 of 10 women in Türkiye are exposed to physical or sexual violence;
•    3 of 10 women in Türkiye are married before they turn 18;
•    48 per cent of girls in Türkiye married by age 18 are exposed to physical violence;
•    One third of girls in Türkiye are not allowed to go to school by their families;
•    11 per cent of women in Türkiye are prevented from working by their families;
•    Only 1 of 10 women in Türkiye exposed to violence apply to an institution for help;
•    90 per cent of human trafficking victims in Türkiye are women.

For more statistics, you may check Gender Statistics brochure
 

UN Women in Action in Türkiye and its Ending Violence Against Women Portfolio

Partnering with Ministries, local governments, civil society organisations, women’s movement, professional chambers, private sector and media, and other UN agencies to prevent and enhance the response to violence against women and girls, UN Women Türkiye works to:

•    Bring relevant national legislation and policy documents in line with international norms and standards, and improve their effective implementation;
•    Ensure that women and girls have full access to and benefit from multi-sectoral services to prevent and combat violence against women;
•    Combat and transform gender stereotypes;
•    Engage men and boys to combat all forms and manifestations of violence against women;
•    Ensure the effectiveness of services to combat violence against women in disaster risk management and disaster response efforts.

UN Women carries out its efforts to combat violence against women in a multi-faceted approach, including prevention, intervention, risk management, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, data generation and analysis, thereby adopting a holistic strategy.

Our projects:

• UN Joint Programme on the Prevention of Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) in Türkiye Project, implemented jointly with UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women Türkiye with the financial support of the Swedish Government through SIDA;
• Strengthening Women’s Access to Justice Project funded by the Swedish Government and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice;
• Enhancing Women's Post-Earthquake Legal Literacy Project funded by the Federal Government of Germany and implemented in cooperation with the Union of Turkish Bar Associations;
• Supporting Provincial Administrations in Guidance for more Effective Multisectoral Cooperation and Reporting on Ending Violence Against Women Project funded by the Federal Government of Germany and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior;
• Addressing the Urgent Needs of Women and Girls Impacted by the Earthquake for Multi-sectoral Services funded by the Federal Government of Germany and carried out in cooperation with various stakeholders to address the urgent needs of women and girls affected by the earthquakes in 11 provinces in 2023;
• “Restoring and Strengthening the Preventive and Protective Services in Response to Violence Against Women and Girls Affected by The Earthquakes in Türkiye” Project is implemented by UN Women Türkiye together with United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Family and Social Services (MoFSS) - General Directorate on the Status of Women (GDSW) as the End-Beneficiary and is co-funded by European Union and UN Women;

UN Women Türkiye, in collaboration with civil society organizations and networks, also works on combating violence against women and girls, crisis resilience and climate change.

Under its women’s political participation portfolio since 2019, UN Women has been working on combating violence against women in politics (VAWiP) which negatively affects women’s effective participation and representation in public and political life. In this context, a qualitative research Violence against Women in Politics in Türkiye was published in 2023.