ISTANBUL, Turkey — A group of female activists prepare
banners ahead of a march in
Istanbul: "Keep the feminist rebellion
going", reads one, "We don't have to stick to your taboos", says
another.
اضافة اعلان
The mood is cheery, but the reason for the
gathering is not.
They were readying for a rally Tuesday —
International Women's Day — to protest femicide and urge Turkey to rejoin a
Europe-wide convention protecting women from violence.
"March 8 is an occasion for many women
to make their voices heard," activist Kubra Karagoz, 31, told AFP.
"The streets and squares belong to
women, despite all the pressure to drive them away," she said, kneeling
down to write on a purple canvas.
'Incompatible'
Turkey has seen a groundswell of feminist
protests after President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan abruptly pulled out of the
Istanbul Convention last year.
Turkey was the first country to sign the
convention in 2011, which laid the way for a legal framework to tackle, prevent,
and prosecute violence against women.
Ankara justified the withdrawal by saying
the treaty had a hidden agenda to normalize homosexuality, in part because of
its broad ban on discrimination, including based on gender identity and sexual
orientation.
The LGBTQ movement is
"incompatible" with Turkey's social and family values, government
spokesman Fahrettin Altun said.
The move is still haunting women who
complain of being deprived of legal guarantees in
Turkey, where females won the
right to vote in national elections in 1934 — well ahead of many European
nations and 10 years before France.
The pull-out has prompted huge
demonstrations, some that have seen clashes with police spraying tear gas at
protesters.
The majority of women in the country are
familiar with the treaty, according to Canan Gullu, who heads the
Federation of Women's Associations of Turkey.
"For us, it's still in place," she
says.
'Volunteer activists'
Turkey has seen an uptick in femicides in
recent years.
Last year, 416 women were killed, according
to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform. So far this year, 72 have been
killed.
Many are murdered by partners and relatives,
and some have sparked uproar.
In February this year, Huseyin Can Gokcek
murdered his 16-year-old fiancee Sila Senturk in the northern city of Giresun
after her family allegedly forced her into the relationship.
Well-known screenwriter Gani Mujde joined a
chorus of condemnation, saying those who let her be killed should "drown
in the blood of child brides".
"Let the light in this girl's eyes
blind those who got the 16-year-old engaged and left her alone with her
murderer," Mujde said.
Gullu said women are now at the forefront of
the battle for better protection.
"The women's movement has achieved
social awareness, which is our pride, the result of standing upright," she
told AFP.
"We don't have a mercenary army. We are
not putting anyone out on the street by giving out money. There are volunteer
activists from all sides in this movement."
'Escape from justice'
In the wake of the
Istanbul Convention withdrawal,
Erdogan has promised a legal reform package of hefty sentences for violence
against women.
The bill will come to full parliament floor
"as soon as possible," he said at a women's event last week.
But activists say it's not enough, and want
the convention restored.
"There's no point in stiffening
penalties. Our problem is that the laws are not being implemented," said
Elif Ege, 35, who describes herself as an independent feminist.
Human rights lawyer Nesibe Kiris said the
withdrawal sends a clear message to perpetrators, offering "an escape from
justice, and legitimacy to commit such crimes".
But she added that women are more mobilized
than ever to "influence society and politicians and thus impact judicial
rulings".
For Gullu, the battle may be uphill, but she
insists that violence "is not destiny."
"Women are the homeland of women. We
will support each other. We'll remind women they are not helpless," she
said.
"We will stand side-by-side,
shoulder-to-shoulder, and win this fight."
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