When Sila Gencoglu, one of Turkey’s biggest pop stars, walked into an Istanbul courtroom a few months ago and filed abuse charges against her actor boyfriend, it set off the kind of media frenzy Turks were expecting but also something more rare: a national debate about violence against women.
The news media published photographs of her bruises, a doctor’s report on her injuries, and the panicked text messages of a woman next door who said she heard the beating. A message Gencoglu posted on Instagram gave a voice to the large percentage of Turkish women who do not report abuse — and provided a model, she hoped, of how to fight back.
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“It is not easy to go out on the street and yell, ‘I have been abused,’ ” she wrote. “I am going to use the rights given to me by the law.”
Gencoglu’s boyfriend, Ahmet Kural, a well-known comedic actor, has denied her accusations. When the trial starts in two weeks, it will be a high-profile test of landmark legislation introduced seven years ago by the government that was supposed to better protect women and children from abuse.
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Though the law has provided survivors with greater rights, there have been numerous problems with how it has been carried out, including a lack of reliable data on its effectiveness and a reluctance by Turkey’s judiciary to punish men for abuse, according to women’s advocacy groups and a European experts’ panel. The law has also been undermined by a years-long, countervailing effort by the Islamist-led government to reinforce traditional roles for women in society, women’s rights groups say.She should leave Turkey.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Monday: Michelle Malkin ready and waiting for your digital pleasure.
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