Turkey: Domestic violence on the rise, data reveals

Incidents of domestic violence

in Turkey increased from approximately 48,000 cases in 2008 to over 80,000 in 2011, representing an increase of nearly 70 percent, according to information gathered from the nation’s law enforcement agencies. The northwestern province of Bilecik reported the most incidents of domestic violence with 3.3 percent of reported cases, while the central-western province of Isparta trailed a close second with 2.8 percent. The provinces of Karaman, Kayseri, Denizli and Bartın shared third place with 2 percent each. Governor’s offices across Turkey sent Parliament’s Human Rights Commission data collected from police and gendarmerie station commands pertaining to domestic violence cases during the period between 2008 and 2011. Istanbul, Turkey’s most crowded province with a recorded population of over 13 million people, ranked 65th in the list in terms of the absolute numbers of cases referred to law enforcement agencies, with over 10,000 reported incidents. Turkey’s second biggest city Ankara came in 46th place with nearly 5,000 reported incidents, while the Aegean province of Izmir, the country’s third biggest city, came in 17th place with around 5,900 reported cases. The southeastern province of Batman ranked at the bottom of the list with 1 percent, closely followed by the southeastern provinces of Hakkari, Şırnak, Van, Bitlis, Bingöl, Mardin and the Black Sea province of Trabzon in reported cases of domestic violence in 2011.