One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: An Analysis of Turkey’s Implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Addressing Gender-Based Domestic Violence

Abstract

Turkey has had a unique and troublesome relationship with the Istanbul Convention. It was both the first country to ratify the Convention and the first country to withdraw from it after implementing the Convention for six years. This chapter focuses on the legal steps taken by Turkey between its ratification and its withdrawal from the Convention. In this analysis, I argue that, even before its withdrawal, Turkey had been sweeping between two ends: its progressive legal steps to address violence against women on one hand, and its legal and political attitude threatening gender equality in general, on the other. This chapter, therefore, argues that Turkey was already failing to effectively implement the Convention, and its withdrawal from the Convention should only be considered a reflection of Turkish government’s insincerity in its political commitment to address gender-based violence from the outset.