Turkish man fined for not loving wife

A Turkish husband has been fined for saying “I don’t love you” to his wife, the Daily Sabah website reports.

According to the website, the spouses, who are divorcing, both sought compensation from each other over insults apparently hurled during their marriage.

A lower court had ruled they were both as bad as one another, but the Supreme Court of Appeal said the man’s remark about not loving his wife amounted to “emotional violence”, and ordered him to pay her compensation.

The woman said her husband’s comment had left her “emotionally wrecked”, and that he had often left the marital home. For his part, the man said his wife had repeatedly “cursed” him.

Turkey has been trying to crack down on all forms of violence against women, but the publication points out that emotional and psychological abuse can be difficult to prove.

A 2014 survey of university-educated women working in white-collar jobs found that 40% of respondents had experienced that type of abuse at least once, the Hurriyet Daily News reported in December.