Femicide and domestic abuse in Turkey | DW Documentary

More than one in three Turkish women has been subjected to domestic violence. And the number of women murdered in Turkey is on the rise. But women in Turkey are fighting back. Ipek Bozkurt, a courageous lawyer, is determined to confront violence against women. Working with a group of activists, Ipek Bozkurt fights for justice. The documentary follows two of their cases: Arzu, who was married at 14 and Kübra, a once-successful television presenter. Both survived their partners’ brutal attacks but are still badly scarred by them today. Arzu’s husband fired a shotgun at his wife seven times after she asked him for a divorce. Kübra suffered a brain hemorrhage after her husband brutally beat her, just two days after the birth of their daughter. Both women want to see their husbands punished for what they did. Ipeks Bozkurt’s fight is not only against a legal system that regularly gives lenient sentences to male perpetrators, but also against an increasingly repressive Turkish government. “Dying to Divorce“ was filmed over a period of five years. Through intimate, personal stories, it offers a unique perspective on women’s struggle for independence and equality in Turkey today.