İZMİR - Stating that Mert D., who is at the stage of divorce, who attempted to kill her brother, actually targeted her, a woman named Z.D. said: "I wish I asked women and social media for help from the beginning instead of the police."

 

Male violence against women is increasing day by day. While the resistance of women against male violence continues, on the other side, the discourses and policies of the government that legitimize and ignore violence continue. The latest example of these discourses was once again revealed with the Minister of Family and Social Services, Derya Yanık. The Minister, who made a presentation at a meeting he attended on May 22, stated that in February and March 2020, the incidents of violence increased at a "tolerable rate". After the minister's words were published in the press, reaction came.

 

Z.D., one of the women who suffered from male violence and struggled against it, which the Minister defended to be "at a tolerable level", told our agency about her experiences.

 

Multiple complaints filed

 

Z., who settled with her family six months ago due to the violence she was exposed to by Mert D., whom she was married to, stated that she was at the stage of divorce with the perpetrator. Z. stated that they had repeatedly complained about the perpetrator to the police, but the security did not show the necessary importance, and pointed out that the perpetrator also received encouragement from this situation.

 

The perpetrator of the arson incident was not found

 

Z. shared that she previously suspected from the perpetrator in the arson of her family's house. Emphasizing that she was a plaintiff for the fire but that the perpetrator was not found, Z. said: "His mother came to our house to convince me and take me away. His mother said, ‘Mert would not do it, but his brother might have done it because of sad to his brother’. His brother burned down the house of his girlfriend who wanted to leave him."

 

‘An attempt was made to get a report so that he would not be penalized’

 

Stating that they were trying to get a report about the perpetrator so that he would not be punished for the acts of violence he committed, Z. said: "So he would not be punished when he did something to me. Her mother tried to get the report even if she knows that he could go to kill me."

 

Z. noted that although she moved to her sister's house to move away from the neighborhood where the perpetrator was, the perpetrator often insisted on seeing the children. Stating that she said that this request would be realized only in the presence of a psychologist, and police, Z. said: "I was trying not to provoke him so that he would not increase the violence. He told me that his brothers and fathers beat him while his mother protected him. I was wondering if anything would happen to him. His mother was saying that her son was in this state everywhere because of me. I thought if something happened to him, her family would attack my family."

 

‘He tried to kill my brother and ran away’

 

Stating that they called the police after the perpetrator attempted to break into her brother's house on the evening of May 17, but they could not find the perpetrator. Z. said: "There is a negligence of safety. The perpetrator went to the house of my friends living in that neighborhood, saying that they knew my place and threatened them. He came back the next day, my brother called the police again. The police came and said he could not find again. However, if the police had taken him at night, he would not have been able to go again, he would not have been able to attack my brother. He tried to kill my brother and ran away. My brother, who was alone at home, hardly called for help, and then he was taken to the hospital. He just came out from a coma."

Stating that the real target of the detained perpetrator Mert D. was herself, Z. said that she was afraid of being killed in case of a release order.

 

‘Drug selling is at the basis of the problem’

 

Expressing that the increase in drug selling in Güzeltepe Neighborhood is the basis of the violence problem, Z. noted that Çiğli Police is negligent. Z. said: "I was reporting him to the police when he got out of the house to take drugs. I also said these when they called me to statement the other day. The police told me, ‘I have no opportunity to enter Güzeltepe at night. If I get in there wearing this uniform, they will kill me’. He silenced me by saying, ‘My priority is my own life’. My brother just got out from a coma. I wish I had asked women and social media for help from the beginning instead of the police."