Student’s Killing Turns Spotlight in Turkey on Violence Against Women

Women shout slogans to protest the killing of a college student, Ozgecan Aslan, during a demonstration in Istanbul on Feb. 14. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

AYLA ALBAYRAK

Updated Feb. 17, 2015 7:14 p.m. ET

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ISTANBUL—The gruesome killing of a young woman is sending shock waves through Turkey, sparking unprecedented demonstrations against violence toward women and spotlighting the divide between secular and religious-minded voters.

The mutilated body of Ozgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old student from the southern city of Mersin, was discovered Friday, two days after she was last seen catching a minibus home from her university. The driver, Suphi Altindoken, confessed to stabbing her, cutting off her fingers and burning her remains after she resisted his attempts to rape her, according to local media reports.

He was arrested Friday along with two other men, including his father, who allegedly helped him dispose of the body, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, citing military police reports.

Mr. Altindoken denied trying to rape Ms. Aslan, claiming they had engaged in a quarrel that turned into a physical fight, Anadolu reported, citing police.

The brutal crime has sparked demonstrations in dozens of cities and spurred a politically charged debate in Turkey—still a largely patriarchal society even as the economy has developed rapidly.

Discussions have been trending on social media, with Twitterhashtags including #sendeanlat—or #youspeakout—used by Turkish celebrities and women sharing personal stories of abuse and harassment. Large protests are planned for this weekend, including a gathering of Turkish men wearing miniskirts in central Istanbul.

The mix of anger and introspection recalls the reaction in India after a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi in 2012. In the following months, laws there were rewritten to increase the penalties for crimes against women.

In Turkey, activists acknowledge that problems with violence against women predate the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, long tenure. But they criticize the government’s attempts to address the issue as inadequate, citing data indicating crimes against women have increased in recent years.

Conservatives say the data reflect more people reporting such crimes, and cite women’s rights legislation they introduced since taking power in 2002, including criminalizing marital rape and increasing penalties for so-called honor killings of woman deemed by family members to have stained their reputation.

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Turkey’s Family Minister Aysenur Islam, the sole female minister in government, conceded that the number of women killed increased by some 40% last year, but stressed the problem wasn’t specific to Turkey.

In a television appearance late Monday, Ms. Aslan’s family called for national unity in mourning. “This country should no longer be divided…The perpetrators should be brought to justice,” said her father, Mehmet Aslan.

But societal frictions quickly spread.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday he would follow the trial closely, but accused demonstrators of “experiencing joy” at Ms. Aslan’s death for political purposes.

“They are supposedly protesting by dancing to her death. What is that about? Say a prayer, if you know how to,” Mr. Erdogan said in a speech.

The secularist opposition accused Mr. Erdogan of meddling in women’s lives to encourage a more religious model of womanhood.

Mr. Erdogan has angered women’s rights advocates with repeated calls for women to marry early and bear many children, threats to abolish abortion, and his public rejection of gender equality, which was added to the constitution by the previous government in 2001.

Last month, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu caused an outcry after declaring “the most important career for women is motherhood.”

“This political administration doesn’t allow women to breathe. They interfere in everything,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in a speech Tuesday.

Almost half of Turkish women report experiencing violence from an intimate partner, according to a May report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. World-wide, at least 35% of women have experienced such violence, according to 2013 data in a United Nations report.

Last year, almost 300 Turkish women were killed by men, mostly by their husbands or partners, according to a survey by Bianet, a nongovernmental organization and news website focusing on rights issues. That is up from about 200 a year since 2010, when it started keeping track.

The early years of AKP government drew praise from the European Union and Western capitals for measures to improve women’s rights. But in recent years, opposition parties and rights groups say the pace of reforms has slowed.

Women’s rights activists say the patriarchal attitude of top politicians keeps women’s status low.

“The government favors family integrity over women’s rights, and there’s still massive impunity concerning violence against women,” said Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights group, adding that women get killed even while under state protection.

Ms. Islam, the family and social policy minister, promised on Tuesday to introduce new measures to better protect women from violence, including requiring abusers to wear electronic bracelets to ensure they stay away from their potential target.