An analysis of the murder of women in a 10-year period in Eskişehir Province located in western Anatolia in Turkey

Abstract Murder of women generally occurs as a result of violence by their husbands and relatives. We evaluated the female victims of murder in Eskişehir, located in western Anatolia, where the education level is high in this study. Our aim was to assess and discuss data related to the victims and murderers. A total of 141 women's murder cases were analysed in the study. After a legal process and the results of the autopsies during 2002–2011 in Eskişehir, 715 subjects found to have died as a result of murder were chosen. Cases were evaluated in terms of their age, marital status, education level, relationship to the murderer, reasons for violence, type of action and reasons for death. It was determined that 48.2% ( n = 68) of the victims had been killed by the husband and 7.8% ( n = 11) by the ex-husband. Murderers generally stated that the reason of murder was the woman's request for divorce or breaking up ( n = 40, 28.4%). In compliance with the literature, the women were most commonly killed by their husbands in our study. Enhancing women's status and preventing violence against women will decrease such murders.