ISTANBUL — Turkey is failing to protect women from domestic violence, rights activists say. While International Women’s Day on March 8 approaches, women’s groups in Turkey are stepping up their criticism of the government, which they say is not doing enough to stop the beating and killing of women.

March 8 also marks the second anniversary of the adoption of a law against domestic violence passed by Turkey’s parliament in 2012. At the time, the law was hailed by the government as a “present” to women, designed to fight violence against women by making it easier for victims to receive police protection when under threat.

But activists say the law had not fulfilled expectations. “Unfortunately, we don’t see an improvement, but a deterioration,” Zelal Ayman, coordinator at Women for Women’s Human Rights - New Ways, a rights group in Istanbul, told Al-Monitor. “It is a problem that threatens half the population,” she said about violence targeting women. “It is a horrible thing.”

According to Turkey’s police, 61 women were killed by their husbands or lovers last year, but an unofficial count by the web portal Bianet put the death toll at 214. Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the number exceeded 800.