A painful picture in femicides: 150 women murdered in the first 6 months of 2026

The We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP) has shared data with the public regarding femicides and suspicious deaths of women for the first half of 2026. According to the report, 150 women were murdered by men in the first 6 months of the year, while 151 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances. The most striking detail in the report was that 61% of the women were killed in their own homes, which should be their safest spaces.

Emphasizing that murder rates have been on the rise in the 4 years since the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the platform pointed out that the deepening economic crisis and policies of impunity have created space for perpetrators.

"WOMEN WERE MOSTLY KILLED IN THEIR HOMES AND BY THOSE CLOSEST TO THEM"

The released data once again revealed that violence against women comes from within the family and from the closest relatives rather than from strangers:

Perpetrators are the men closest to them: Of the 150 women murdered, 64 (43%) were killed by the men they were married to, 17 by the men they were in a relationship with, 10 by men they were previously married to, and 4 by men they were previously in a relationship with. In total, 95 women were victims of men they shared their lives with or had separated from.

Homes are not safe: 92 of the women (61%) were murdered in their own homes. Among crime scenes outside the home, streets (17 women) and cars (8 women) topped the list.

Domestic violence: 10 women were killed by relatives, 9 by their fathers, 6 by their sons, and 2 by their own brothers.

MURDER PRETEXTS AND THE DOMINANCE OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

The report, which stated that women are targeted when they want to defend their most basic rights and make decisions about their own lives, included the following details:

"17 women were killed because they wanted to make decisions about their own lives, such as wanting a divorce or wanting to separate. 11 women (7%) were murdered with the deepening economic crisis cited as a pretext. However, the fundamental issue here is not financial hardship; it is that crisis conditions are used by men as an excuse to legitimize control and dominance over women."

For 117 of the murdered women (78%), the pretext for the murder could not be determined.

VIOLENCE THAT CANNOT BE STOPPED DESPITE PROTECTION ORDERS

The report criticized the weaknesses in the state's protection mechanisms and the shortcomings in judicial processes with numerical data:

Of the 150 murdered women, 8 had active protection or restraining orders under Law No. 6284 at the time they were killed.

In the first half of the year, 15 women were killed by men who had prior criminal records. The platform argued that amnesty regulations have once again created space for perpetrators of violence.

68 of the murdered women had children, and 2 women were murdered while pregnant.

SUSPICIOUS DEATHS ARE BEING CLARIFIED THROUGH STRUGGLE

The platform underlined that the 151 suspicious deaths of women that occurred in the first 6 months of 2026 must be meticulously investigated. It was recalled that 12 suspicious deaths previously recorded as "suicide" or "accident" were revealed to be femicides as a result of persistent legal struggles. The statement concluded with the call: "Stopping femicides is possible with policies that center the right to life of women rather than the family, the uncompromising implementation of Law No. 6284, and returning to the Istanbul Convention."