An Examination of Femicides Committed during the Divorce Process

Abstract

With couples getting married and having children, individual, husband-wife, parent-child, and sibling subsystems are formed. If a couple cannot maintain their marriage and one of the parties desires divorce, it is necessary to dissolve the husband-wife subsystem that was formed through marriage to achieve a healthy divorce. This research addresses femicides that occur as a result of the failure to dissolve the husband-wife subsystem during the divorce process. For a detailed analysis of the situation, divorce and femicide-related news articles published between 2016 and 2020 were searched on the websites of three of the most widely read newspapers in Turkey. The research findings revealed that murders are committed in Turkey due to the unhealthy conduct of the divorce process. These murders occur mostly during the formal divorce process, and they increase in parallel with the rising number of divorces each year. Moreover, during the divorce process, it is observed that men exert continuous pressure on women. The mismanagement of the divorce process by couples and men's inability to accept separation can lead to fatal consequences. The findings of the research highlight the importance of mandatory counseling services during the divorce process. Social work professionals and policymakers who intervene at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels are recommended to develop policies that enforce mandatory counseling services for couples going through the divorce process.