JINHA

ISTANBUL – Istanbul's Women Lawyers Solidarity held a sit-in in front of a courthouse in Istanbul calling for "real justice, not male justice."

In Turkey, hundreds of murderers and rapists of women every year are released thanks to so-called "good behavior" sentence reductions. In the wake of the rape and murder of Özgecan Aslan, a university student, women across the country have pointed to the state as the chief instigator of violence against women, through the legal system's refusal to punish perpetrators of this violence.

"When the statements of women victims of violence are worth next to nothing in court, when the burden of proof falls on women who have to provide extensive documentation and physical proof, almost no precautions are taken against many of the perpetrators of this violence," said Selmin Cansu Demir, speaking on behalf of the lawyers. "The minimum possible sentences and the maximum possible sentence reductions are given to perpetrators for reasons like behaving respectfully to the judge or wearing a suit to court."

She described the questioning of women in court as a traumatizing "honor test" used to discredit women victims.

Cansu also noted that the courts were themselves hostile to female clients and lawyers, who were forced to bring their children into court hearings because courts in Turkey provide no childcare services.

The lawyers shouted slogans including "women's murderer is state violence," "femicide is political" and the Kurdish slogan "jin, jiyan, azadî" (woman, life freedom).

"Just like we won't abandon the night, the streets, the squares, we won't abandon the courts either," said Cansu.

(fk/mg/cm)