Turkey’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention: Lack of Rights for Victims of Gender Based Violence

As of July 1, 2021, Turkey has fully withdrawn from the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women (Istanbul Convention), which Turkey had been the first signatory to in 2011.[1] Despite the rise in the number of victims of gender-based violence in the last decade,[2] the Turkish government has actively chosen to protect the very same patriarchal “social and family values” that are the root cause of the violence.[3] The outcry against the withdrawal has been resounding, from inside Turkey as well as from the international community.[4] Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention has severe consequences for victims of gender based violence, resulting from the loss of the convention’s legal protections and its monitoring mechanism.

The Convention condemns all forms of violence against women and holds countries accountable to legal standards for preventing, investigating, punishing, and providing reparation for gender based acts of violence.[5] The convention specifically states that culture, religion, custom, norms, and honor cannot excuse gender based violence.[6] The convention also established the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) to monitor and enforce the Convention.[7] The decision to withdraw from the convention thus rid the country of one of the few monitoring mechanisms left.[8]  

GREVIO has published detailed reports on the failures of the Turkish government to adhere to  the convention. Issues detailed in the 2018 report include the lack of data collection and the stifling of non-profit work as well as errors in implementation of laws against stalking, forced marriages, and sexual violence against children.[9] The report also highlights the government’s failure to amend the Turkish Criminal Code to exclude crimes, including murders, committed in the name of “honour,” not just “custom,” from the application of Article 29 of its code on unjust provocation, as required by the convention.[10] Even in areas where domestic laws do address the convention’s concerns, failures in the implementation of these laws have helped maintain the status quo.[11]

Notwithstanding these  shortcomings, the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications has justified the decision to withdraw on the grounds that the Istanbul Convention      sought to “normalize homosexuality,” a lifestyle found to be “incompatible” with Turkey’s fundamental “values.”[12] The Directorate also invoked the anti-gender mobilizations in Eastern European countries that reject the Convention on similar terms.[13] Other supporters of the withdrawal pointed out that Law No. 6284, enacted soon after the convention was signed, already protected women’s rights in Turkey and hence, argued there is no need for the convention.[14] Yet, the scope of the protections under this law is much narrower and post-withdrawal, its authority has greatly diminished.[15] 

Unlike the heated public debate in Eastern European countries like Bulgaria,[16] even conservative women’s rights groups in Turkey, such as the Women and Democracy Organization (KADEM) had been supportive of the convention.[17] In fact, KADEM had rejected claims that the convention sought to normalize homosexuality.[18] Unfortunately, the organization leadership, which include President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye Erdogan, took up the same arguments put forward by the government once the decision to withdraw was announced.[19] But the public was not convinced. According to a poll in March 2021, only 26.7 percent of the population were in support of the withdrawal with more than half disapproving of the decision.[20] There have also been waves of protests against the decision and more recently, women’s marches have incorporated the goal of rejoining the Convention.[21]

Now that Turkey has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention, even if domestic legislation could fill the void left by it, there is little mechanism in place to monitor implementation of domestic laws.[22] The gains made with the pressure of the GREVIO can and will be easily repealed. Not only is the model for curtailing gender based violence established by the Convention no longer in place, but also the rejection of the root cultural causes of gender based violence remains unaddressed by the Turkish penal system.[23] According to a survey conducted in 2014, only seven percent of victims of gender based violence report it to the police.[24] Public prosecutors only respond to four percent of cases where women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence.[25] This decision encourages male offenders and keeps victims silent by making it easier to commit and harder to prosecute gender based violence.[26] Moreover, the withdrawal signals to victims that protections are limited, which is especially true for LGBTQ+ victims who are now left without any legal protection based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity under Turkish law.[27]  

Esat Acar is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLV.

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.
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[1] See Women’s Rights Committee Urges Turkey to Reconsider Withdrawal From Istanbul Convention as Decision Takes Effect, UN OHCHR (Jul 1, 2021), https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27242&LangID=E.

[2] See Anitsayac, http://anitsayac.com (Last visited Dec. 3, 2021).

[3] See Statement Regarding Türkiye’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye Directorate of Communications (Mar 21, 2021), https://www.iletisim.gov.tr/english/duyurular/detay/statement-by-the-directorate-of-communications-on-turkiyes-withdrawal-from-the-istanbul-convention; Alkan Ö, Özar Ş, Ünver Ş, Economic violence against women: A case in Turkey, Plus One, 5 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248630.

[4] See UN Joint Statement in Response to Turkey’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, UN Turkey (Nov. 26, 2021), https://turkey.un.org/en/122727-un-joint-statement-response-turkeys-withdrawal-istanbul-convention; Umar Farooq, Turkish police fire tear gas at female protesters in Istanbul Al Jazeera (Nov. 26, 2021), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/26/turkish-police-fire-tear-gas-at-women-protesters-in-istanbul.

[5] See Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, Nov. 5, 2011, C.E.T.S. No. 210 arts. 1, 5, 11, 14, 36 [hereinafter Istanbul Convention].

[6] See id. at art. 42.

[7] See Council of Europe, https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/grevio (last visited Dec. 3, 2021). 

[8] See Freedom House in the World 2020 Report Turkey, Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom-world/2020 (last visited Dec. 3, 2021).

[9] See GREVIO Baseline Action Report, Council of Europe 7-8 (2018), https://rm.coe.int/eng-grevio-report-turquie/16808e5283.

[10] See id. at 86.

[11] See id. at 8.

[12] See Statement Regarding Türkiye’s Withdrawal, supra note 3.

[13] See Ayse Alniacik, Turkey’s Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and Normalization of Male Violence, Cambridge Core Blog (Apr. 3, 2021), https://www.cambridge.org/core/blog/2021/04/03/turkeys-withdrawal-from-the-istanbul-convention-and-normalization-of-male-violence/.

[14] See Sümeyye Erdoğan: İstanbul Sözleşmesi’nin feshini sanki 6284 sayılı Kanun da iptal edilmiş gibi anlayan, böyle düşünmeye yatkın bir kesim var, T24 (Apr. 25, 2021), https://t24.com.tr/haber/sumeyye-erdogan-istanbul-sozlesmesi-nin-feshini-sanki-6284-sayili-kanun-da-iptal-edilmis-gibi-anlayan-boyle-dusunmeye-yatkin-bir-kesim-var,948284.

[15] See Berfu Seker & Ezel Buse Sonmezocak, Withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention: War on Gender Equality in Turkey, Freedom House, 5 (2021), https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/06292021_Freedom_House_Turkey_Policy_Brief-2-Withdrawal-from-the-Istanbul-Convention.pdf.

[16] See, e.g., Miriana Ilcheva, Bulgaria and the Istanbul Convention - Law, Politics and Propaganda vs. the Rights of Victims of Gender-Based Violence, 3 Open J. Legal Stud. 49, 52 (2020).

[17] See Turkish Pro-Gov't Women's Rights Organization KADEM Voices Support for Istanbul Convention, Duvar English (Aug. 3, 2020), https://www.duvarenglish.com/women/2020/08/03/turkish-pro-govt-womens-rights-organization-kadem-voices-support-for-istanbul-convention.

[18] See id.

[19] See Exit From Women's Treaty Splits Turkey's Activists, France 24 (Apr. 1, 2021), https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210401-exit-from-women-s-treaty-splits-turkey-s-activists

[20]See MetroPOLL Araştırm (@Metropoll), Twitter (Mar. 31, 2021, 4:45 AM), https://twitter.com/metropoll/status/1377180297557549056.

[21] See Umar Farooq, Turkish police fire tear gas at female protesters in Istanbul, Al Jazeera (Nov. 26, 2021), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/26/turkish-police-fire-tear-gas-at-women-protesters-in-istanbul.

[22] See Seker & Buse, supra note 15, at 5.

[23] See GREVIO Baseline Action Report, Council of Europe 86 ( 2018), https://rm.coe.int/eng-grevio-report-turquie/16808e5283.

[24] See Seker & Buse, supra note 15, at 4.

[25] See id.

[26] See id.

[27] See id.