Violence against women crime against humanity: Erdoğan

Violence against women is a crime against humanity, Turkey's president said on Monday.

“Violence against women is one of the gravest crimes against humanity,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Erdogan stressed they will continue to fight abuse, harassment, discrimination, and violence against women.

He also said he wished Turkey could completely eliminate this shame.

Also marking the day, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said: “A total of 124,521 cases of domestic violence and violence against women took place, according to 10-month data [for 2019], but this is a drop of 19.1% compared to the same period last year.”

Soylu highlighted that the ministry has stepped up preventive measures and tried to provide data to all studies aiming to prevent violence against women.

Turkey's Women Emergency Assistance Notification System (KADES) app, which allows immediate reaction in case of violence against women, has been downloaded by over 353,000 people, Soylu said.

KADES is an emergency application to enable women who have been the subject of domestic violence or may face violence to notify police faster.

He added that nearly 79,000 personnel, especially those who are working in police stations, have been trained on the issue of violence against women since 2014.

“Sensitivity to the issue, especially contacting security units, filing complaints, and follow-up mechanisms, give very positive results,” he added.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar