ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- In a landmark case, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that Turkish authorities failed to protect a woman from her abusive ex-husband, effectively allowing his pattern of domestic violence to lead to the killing of her mother at gunpoint. 

Judges unanimously ruled that the Turkish state violated three articles prohibiting torture and discrimination, and ensuring the right to life of the victim. 

Legal experts said the ruling sets a precedent throughout Turkey and Europe for governments to protect women from domestic abuse. 

"It's a very good decision," said Pinar Ilkkaracan, co-founder of the Istanbul-based organization Women for Women's Human Rights. "This means now that the state must take effective measures to protect women from violence." 

According to a Turkish government study released in February, four out of 10 Turkish women are beaten by their husbands. The European Union-funded poll concluded that "one out of 10 women has reported to have been beaten during her pregnancy." 

Turkey passed the Family Protection Act in 1998, which is supposed to offer women protection against domestic violence. 

But in the case, Opuz v. Turkey, judges ruled that the "discriminatory judicial passivity in Turkey created a climate that was conducive to domestic violence." 

Court documents state that in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, Nahide Opuz, 36, and her mother were the repeat victims of attacks by the woman's ex-husband, Huseyin Opuz, referred to as H.O. 

"Criminal proceedings were brought against H.O. on three occasions," the court wrote. On one occasion, Huseyin Opuz ran over the two women with a car. In 2001, he stabbed his ex-wife seven times with a knife. The ex-wife survived the assault. Turkish authorities detained and then released her ex-husband after fining him the equivalent of about $580. 
When?
Turkey passed the Family Protection Act in 1998