In Turkey, women victims of violence are registered in the specific institutional databases of the law enforcement agencies, healthcare providers, judicial authorities and social services where they first sought help.

The National Action Plan on Combating Violence Against Women 2016-2020 includes the activity ‘An inter-institutional common database will be established to effectively monitor data on violence against women’. It aims to strengthen the process of intervention and risk assessment, as well as to obtain data that will form the basis for strategy and policy development. A common inter-institutional database has therefore been set up, coordinated by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, which has the responsibility for combating violence against women.

As a first step, data-sharing activities between the Ministry of Family and Social Policies and the Ministry of Justice were completed in 2017. This resulted in the delivery of the protective and preventive injunction orders issued by the courts under Law No. 6284 simultaneously to the database of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services. Delivering these orders electronically to provincial directorates and Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centres (VPMCs) means that women victims are reached more quickly.

The second step targeted integration with law enforcement agencies, with a data-sharing protocol signed by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services and the General Directorate of Security. This protocol aimed to share – electronically - the registration form for incidents of domestic violence and violence against women and data on injunction orders issued by law enforcement agencies with the Ministry. This data integration activity is now complete and the data stream will be provided to the Violation Prevention Monitoring Centres following testing. The initiative is expected to shorten the time taken to reach women victims of violence and to enhance protection. Preparations are underway for similar data integration with the General Command of Gendarmerie.

Integration is maintained so as to ensure the electronic sharing of data with relevant institutions and organisations, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of the Interior, General Directorate of Civil Registration and Citizenship, Social Security Institution and the Banks Association of Turkey, all of which are included in the mechanism to combat violence against women.

These integration activities are envisaged to gather detailed electronic data on combating violence against women (their age, province, victim-perpetrator relationship, etc.) through the various institutional processes, as required by the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violent (Istanbul Convention).

Implementing entity: Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services

 

Impact of integrating administrative records

 

The protective and preventive injunction orders issued by the courts under Law No.6284 are now delivered electronically to the provincial directorates and Violation Prevention Monitoring Centers. The system has been active for one year, and it was verified that the electronic delivery of the injunction orders to the Violation Prevention Monitoring Centers, has shortened the time to reach women victims of violence, and risk analysis and vocational training processes have been strengthened through use of the database.

Learning and capacity-building potential

More reliable recording of data on violence against women will provide a basis for developing policy and service models for the prevention of such violence.

Sustainability of the integration initiative

Integrating the administrative records held in the data systems of the relevant institutions and organisations in the field of combating violence against women is possible wherever such records are maintained. The integration activities ensure electronic data-sharing with relevant institutions and organisations, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of the Interior, General Directorate of Civil Registration and Citizenship, Social Security Institution and the Banks Association of Turkey, all of which are included in the mechanism to combat violence against women.

National plans and strategies

The National Action Plan on Combating Violence against Women includes the activity ‘An inter-institutional common database will be established to effectively monitor data on violence against women’. It aims to establish such a database to strengthen the process of response and risk assessment, as well as to obtain data that will form the basis of strategy and policy development.

Achievements and tangible outcomes

The integration activities aim to obtain detailed data in the field of combating violence against women, in accordance with the Istanbul Convention. Integration with the justice process means that detailed data on the victims and perpetrators of violence (age, province, victim-perpetrator relationship, etc.) can be swiftly reached through an electronic system.

Delays in the correspondence process stemming from the postal service have now been eliminated, with the efficiency of institutional services and professional activities much improved as a result.