violence against women

You can’t call it a reform if the Penal Code excludes the LGBTI

Source: Yıldız Tar. 2014. “LGBTİ’siz TCK Düzenlemesine Reform mu Denir?” (“You can’t call it a reform if the Penal Code excludes the LGBTI”). Kaos GL. June 6, 2014. Accessed June 6, 2014. http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=16789

 

Attorney Hülya Gülbahar evaluated the proposed changes to the Turkish Penal Code apropos sexual assault: “This is social engineering. LGBTIs are intentionally being forgotten, ignored. How can one call it a reform while excluding LGBTIs?”

The blanket bill* of changes to the sections of the Turkish Penal Code concerning sexual assault against women and children have been debated quite a bit and are still being discussed. Women’s rights organizations stated that the proposed changes will ease punishment for a number of crimes and will set free many rapists and abusers.

Flirt is becoming a crime

One of the problems under debate is the section of the proposed changes that increases prison sentences for relations between youths aged between 15 and 18. Women’s rights organizations have emphasized that this proposal “incorporates the act of flirting into the definition of a crime.”

The organizations stated that youth flirting and “underage and forced marriages” are two separate issues. “Neither the society nor the laws should be introduced to such a conceptual confusion on this issue. It is a shared responsibility for all of us to protect children from abuse; forbidding youth from expressing sexuality is a conservative policy that would produce new social rights violations.”

In the wake of the debates and the objections to the administration’s attempt at “conservatization” and “social engineering,” Attorney Hülya Gülbahar evaluated the proposal from an LGBTI perspective.

“How can one call it a reform while excluding LGBTIs?”

Gülbahar, who noted that while the administration is discoursing about protecting women and children, it is actually enacting legislation in the opposite path, stated:

“Yet again, we are debating the Turkish Penal Code. The administration talks about ‘protecting’ women and children but there is no mention of crimes committed against LGBTI individuals! Yet, the Turkish Penal Code defines and regulates crimes. It is necessary for individuals to be protected from crimes while not being subjected to discriminatory practices. Yet, in this package of so-called “reformation,” there exists not a single word regarding LGBTIs. Just a few days ago,a defendant was rewarded with “provocation” and “good behavior” in the case of a trans murder. How can one call a proposed change in laws “reform”  when it does not incorporate the rights of LGBTI individuals, whose humans rights, including that of freely walking down the street, are being violated systematically?”

The same tune since 2005!

Gülbahar noted how sexual orientation and gender identity were excluded from the 2005 anti-discrimination law proposal:

“We experienced the same debate with the ruling party, the AKP, in 2005. We succeeded in adding an amendment against discrimination against LGBTI individuals to the proposed legal changes after intense struggle and extensive effort. But they removed this amendment from the final revision of that proposal… And so, not only were LGBTIs expunged from protection under the Turkish Penal Code, but also the society received a message that legitimized all forms of discrimination and violence against LGBTI individuals.”

“LGBTIs are intentionally disregarded”

Gülbahar, who noted that LGBTIs are intentionally being disregarded, evaluated these practices as the product of a certain social engineering project and added:

“They are yet again effacing the topic in the package of Turkish Penal Code changes being debated in the parliament. This is because the desire is for the continuance of the ongoing discrimination and violence. Indeed, regarding sexual crimes, there exists in this proposal an open ended medicalizing emphasis of “illness” that may lead to surgical castration. With regards to theft and drug-related charges, the punishments are extremely heavy. These are the product of a social engineering project… It is also a necessity of such social engineering to maintain silence on all sorts of identity-based crimes against LGBTI individuals. An intentional forgetfulness/ disregard… A dangerous silence…”

 

Translator’s Note:

  • “Torba yasa tasarısı / değişikliği,” here translated as “blanket bill of changes,” is a type of proposed changes to laws and regulations on a range of diverse areas, rather than a specific legal issue. In Turkey, as in abroad, this political strategy is employed often when the proposed changes to law include controversial items that would not be approved by themselves or when some changes, often buried into the “bag of changes,” take away certain rights from citizens or enable governmental and/or corporate corruption, while others, often emphasized during the promotion of the “bag,” provide changes perceived to be positive.

HDP’s Tüzel Queries Violence Against Women and LGBTI People

Source: “HDP’li Tüzel, Kadın ve LGBTİ’lere Şiddeti Sordu,” (HDP’s Tüzel Queries Violence Against Women and LGBTI People,”) kaosGL.org, 19 April 2014, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=16373

The People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP) Member of Parliament from Istanbul Levent Tüzel brought the issue of “unjust provocation reductions” applied in the murders of women and murders based on sexual orientation and gender identity to the Parliament. Tüzel pressed the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Ayşenur İslam, to answer questions on the issue and noted that 61 women had lost their lives in the first 100 days of 2014 to this violence.

“Why does the state not protect women?”

Tüzel pointed out that institutions of law, judiciary, and security are not on women’s side and asked Minister İslam the role of the government’s patriarchal, conservative, neoliberal social and economic policies that deny gender equality in the rising violence and murders of women despite legal amendments. He asked, “why does the state not protect women?”

Murders Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Tüzel asked for the removal of good conduct and unjust provocation reductions [from the Turkish Criminal Code] in crimes committed against women and people with different sexual orientations. He further asked whether there are plans to consider the murders of women within the scope of “voluntary manslaughter.” Tüzün also asked if there are any legal arrangements to ensure the employment of women who are the victims of violence, and who are staying the women’s shelters, within in the public and private sector.

Tüzel asked these questions to Minister İslam:

“How much longer will the state watch as women are murdered? Why is the necessary public protection of women not ensured?

“What is the role of your government’s patriarchal, conservative, neoliberal social and economic policies that deny gender equality in the rising violence and murders of women despite legal amendments?

“How many women’s shelters are there in Turkey? In the last ten years, how many women’s shelters were opened in which cities? Are there cities and districts without women’s shelters?

“How do women who are victims of violence continue living and stay protected after their 6 month residency in women’s shelters?

“Are you considering any legal arrangements to ensure the employment of women who are the victims of violence and who are staying the women’s shelters to be employed in the public and private sector?

“Does your Ministry have any plans to provide education on social gender in schools?

“Are you considering any changes in the Turkish Criminal Code to consider the murders of women, and murders based on gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity within the scope of “voluntary manslaughter,” to remove unjust provocation and good conduct reductions in crimes against women, and to not include these crimes within the scope of amnesty?

“Are you making any arrangements to include women’s organizations’ participation in public trials of crimes that are based on gender?”