A lack of determination

Sierra's death may not fit the pattern more common in Turkey of women killed by men close to them but the young American was not the only woman whose life was snuffed out prematurely and violently in recent days. This weekend, a 21-year-old woman in Samsun was shot several times by the abusive husband she had decided to divorce. Here in İstanbul, a 44-year-old woman was stabbed by her live-in boyfriend in Esenyurt.

Murders are only the more visible aspect of violence against women. Faced with an epidemic of domestic abuse, you'd expect the Turkish government to send strong signals that violence in any shape or form won't be tolerated. Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Şahin is doing her best and there have been some legal improvements, but her efforts and those of activists continue to be undermined by a Cabinet that remains largely insensitive to women's plight and their aspirations. The signals emerging from Ankara are at best mixed, if not actively unsupportive.

Only last week, President Abdullah Gül approved a controversial amnesty that allows some 15,000 men, sentenced to less than 18 months of imprisonment, to be freed conditionally.  It also enables longer sentences to be postponed.

The trouble is many of the offenders who will benefit from this early release are men who have been jailed for battering, threatening or insulting their wives or partners. Women's groups have urged the authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure that women are not put at risk by this measure, but their calls went unheeded.

Another storm is brewing on abortion, with a new bill expected to be submitted to Parliament within days or weeks. Prepared behind closed doors in the wake of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's outburst against abortion and Caesarean sections last year, the draft legislation does not ban pregnancy terminations outright. But the new regulations create so many hurdles that women may find it all but impossible to terminate an unwanted pregnancy within the legal 10 weeks. Pregnant women will have to apply with their husbands, they will be grilled by a panel which will question their decision and they will be forced to listen to their fetus' heartbeat. The new rules also impose a waiting period before a procedure is carried out.

Only obstetricians in hospitals will be entitled to perform abortions and they will have to right to deny a woman's request. Already, reports of pregnant women being refused their legal right to a termination in the first weeks of their pregnancy are emerging amid growing concern that in rural or more conservative areas, women seeking a termination simply won't get the medical assistance they need. Those with money will be able to travel to find a doctor willing to help them, but women from low-income families may in practice be refused the right to end an unwanted pregnancy safely.

The best way to limit the number of abortions is to promote contraception and make it readily available to all who want it. But Prime Minister Erdoğan, who gives direction to policies through public statements, has also recently condemned birth control, claiming that it was introduced to depopulate and weaken Turkey. With the government now focusing on boosting population figures, it seems unlikely that moves to curb abortion will be accompanied by a drive to support birth control. If the abortion legislation is adopted in its current form, in addition to the sadly frequent murders of women by their partners, Turkey could also see women die again because of unsafe backstreet abortions.