JINHA

ISTANBUL - Every month, the Istanbul Feminist Collective publishes a report sharing the stories of women who have defended themselves from male violence in Turkey. The June report includes a number of stories of self-defense.

The self-defense report by the Istanbul Feminist Collective aims to move beyond statistics on violence against women to share the stories of women who have defended themselves from male violence. The report on June, based on reports that appeared in the media, traces the fate of women's self-defense. In Turkey, women who kill the men who rape, abuse or torment them are rarely considered as legitimate self-defense in court; the report traces developments in the cases of such women over the month of June.

Among the cases addressed in the report was that of Nevin Yıldırım, the woman facing an aggravated life sentence for killing the man who had repeatedly raped her at gunpoint in a small Black Sea town. Nevin's case, which has not been treated as one of self-defense, will be seen in the Supreme Court after her lawyers' appeal.

24-year-old Nesrin killed a 39-year-old man who had been molesting her in a car in June. Nesrin, upon being arrested, reported that the perpetrator, Mehmet Ali Talay, had a long history of sexually harassing her, stalking her and spreading rumors that they were dating. Nesrin is currently under detention.

Another story includes that of Tuba, a woman in the province of Konya. In June 2014, Tuba's husband Ömer took her to their rural house in the local plains, where he locked her in the home, left her thirsty and starving, dragged her from the back of a tractor, punched and beat her with a hose, raped her and finally gave her a gun, ordering her to kill herself. Tuba shot Ömer in his sleep. She is facing between 18 and 24 years in prison.

(gc/fk/cm)