Dogan said that one time he brought her into a forest, beat her and told her to become a prostitute. Another time he held her prisoner until her mother discovered what was happening and threatened to call the authorities. When she was released, she planned to leave him but then discovered she was pregnant and decided to stay. However the pregnancy didn't stop the beatings, nope, she claims he even beat her while she was giving birth to their daughter in the hospital. Later Dogan tried to leave again and filed for a divorce, but changed her mind when he allegedly threatened to hurt her family.
After her arrest on July 9, Dogan told investigators she felt she did what she had to do and that the incident marked the end of a long pattern of abuse, "Will women always die? Let some men die too. I killed him for my honor."
Cases like this is not unheard of in Turkey. Approximately 40% of women in Turkey have been abused and in 2013, authorities estimated 28,000 women were abused in the country and more than 200 were killed. In 2015 alone, more than 100 women have been killed by men and shockingly enough most of them died at the hand of a relative. In other words, Turkey right now is one of the world's worst countries to be a woman.
As she was led into jail, Dogan flashed thumbs-up to the cameras and wore a shirt that read: "Dear past, thanks for all the lessons. Dear Future, I am ready." Feminists took to social media in support of Dogan, hailing her as the pride of Turkey and a hero in the fight against domestic violence.
Even though my heart breaks for her and her little girl, I am happy for Dogan and I really hope that all this media attention will help to lessen her sentence. Though I highly doubt it as the country is ran by the biggest sexist asshole.
I just hope that someday Cilem Dogan and every women like her will be freed, protected and helped to rebuild their life in a dignified and autonomous way.
