Law on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence against Women

Lawyer Elvan Kılıç addresses violence against women and the "Law on Protection of the Family and Prevention of Violence against Women" in all its aspects.

WHAT’S THE SCOPE OF THE LAW ON THE PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY AND THE PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN?

Violence is the most impotent form of establishing superiority that can be used on a being. Violence as defined in the Law No. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women is any kind of physical, sexual, psychological, verbal or economic behavior and conduct taking place in social, public or private spaces, including those resulting or may result in physical, sexual, psychological or economic damage or suffering to someone, threats and pressure of such behaviors, or restricting freedom arbitrarily.

Our Law No. 6284, while defining violence so comprehensively, not only protects women but also covers all individuals who need protection. As stated in the Law, no article of the Law can be interpreted as discrimination.

With the help of this law, which is one of the studies carried out to decrease and end the violence cases, which we may be aware of especially in recent years with the influence of the media, it is intended to protect women who are in danger of violence or victims of violence.

WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW?

The purpose of the law is to protect the basic human right to life, to work with the relevant institutions in order to prevent the murders of women, to provide financial/moral support to women in this gradual process, to treat the people who use or who are likely to use violence, and reintegrate them into the society. As you can see, the aim is not to separate the unity of marriage, but to put the family, which is the smallest building block of the society, in a healthy form. In this context, it does not even isolate the violence perpetrator and aims to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into the society.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS LAW?

The persons who can benefit from the law are women, children and family members who are subjected to violence or who are in danger of being subjected to violence and victims of stalking. In order to benefit from the provisions of the Law, it is sufficient for the person to be subjected to violence or to be in danger of being subjected to violence, the person's gender, civil status or nationality, or whether they are a family member or not are irrelevant.

WHAT ARE THE PROTECTIVE AND PREVENTIVE ACTIONS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE LAW?

Protective measures are a set of measures created based on victims of violence. These measures are mainly changing the workplace of the victim, determining a separate settlement from the joint settlement in case the person is married, placing a family commentary on the title deed register at the request of the protected person if the conditions are met, changing identity and other relevant information and documents with the person's informed consent if the protected person is in danger of life and that other measures will not be sufficient.

CAN WOMEN WHO ARE VIOLENCE VICTIMS RECEIVE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT?

One of the most important reasons why women submit to psychological and physical violence is that they do not have economic security, they have no place to go, and so to speak, the information that the state and many women's aid organizations can offer these opportunities is not spread widely enough. However, where appropriate, women and their children are offered shelter, and temporary financial assistance is provided.

In order to enable the women who are victims of violence gain economic independence, ‘nursery’ service is also offered if they meet the requirements of the Law during their employment. Since the end of physical violence cannot end the effects of mental violence, psychological support is also provided with the law content in this period.

In recent years, especially in the case of Nahide Opuz, it has been revealed in the universal press that our country failed to take some certain measures. While no reason in the whole universe can justify damaging a living being, it is a crime against humanity to remain silent to the violence to women which happens almost every day in our country.

We can only wish that the public sensitivity shown after Münevver Karabulut, Özgecan Aslan and many other angels left us would be shown before the violence incidents occur, that each person would live with their own name,  rather than us making their names live in the names of streets and schools named after them.

We are tired of saying “if only”, but we will never tire from speaking about women’s rights and opportunities given to women, and from trying to expand the scope of these opportunities. Although there are points where our Law no. 6284 is insufficient, it is still promising. Wishing to increase hopes.