'Men are more deadly than Covid': Turkey’s women protest against government inaction on femicide
20 June, 2021
Thousands of protesters from across Turkey travelled to Istanbul on Saturday to march against the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, amid a growth in gender-based violence and continued erosion of women’s rights.
On March 20, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a midnight decree that annulled Turkey’s ratification of the convention, legislation designed to protect women signed by 45 countries and europe in 2011. The country is due to withdraw officially on July 1.
Holding signs that read “masculinity is more deadly than coronavirus” and “real men are feminists”, protesters of all ages braved the strong summer sun in the city’s Maltepe district to demand a reversal of your choice ahead of the deadline.
“In the center of the night time, Turkey was removed from the Istanbul Convention as a result of decision of just one single person. We are here to improve this. We are here to state that we are not giving up and we will reenter the convention,” said Melek Onder, 32, from the We WILL MINIMIZE Femicides platform, which organised the event.
“We stand against the lawless and unconstitutional acts on women that happen regularly in Turkey. Every day women are being killed. Every day we are against the unfairness.”
Activists and legal representatives claim the decree is incompatible with constitutional law and around 130 groups joined the demonstration. Small marches took place regularly since the announcement, but the recent normalisation of Covid restrictions now allows mass gatherings.
Turkey’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention has been highly criticised by europe and human rights advocates.
However, in line with the communications directorate, the treaty had been “manipulated” and is “incompatible with Turkey's social and familial values”.
Ankara has been accused of backsliding on women’s rights recently. A huge selection of women are killed by men annually, with an additional upsurge in domestic violence as a result of pandemic.
During the last five years, the amount of femicides has doubled and in May alone, there have been 17 cases of femicide reported, as well as 20 suspicious deaths.
Inadequate protection
In 2018, the federal government launched an software to report domestic abuse and it has been downloaded by almost two million women, with over 100,000 incidents recorded so far. Yet critics say the federal government failed to implement measures to safeguard women from increased violence due to the pressures of Covid-19 and staying at home.
In the first 90 days of restrictions this past year, the We WILL MINIMIZE Femicides helpline received 55 per cent more demands support. The activist group raises awareness about gender-based issues, together with providing legal assist with abused women or the relatives of these who have been murdered.
A "black and white selfie" campaign considered to have been were only available in Turkey drew attention to femicide in 2020 with an incredible number of women, including Hollywood celebrities like Jessica Biel and Demi Moore, joining the social media trend.
As protesters marched holding placards remembering the murdered on Saturday, a new face featured heavily - that of Deniz Poyraz, 38, who was simply shot on Thursday in the western city of Izmir at the regional office of the pro-minority Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
Poyraz had been standing set for her sick mother working as a cleaner when a former health worker entered and opened fire. HDP representatives claim police have been stationed outside the office during the attack.
Ayse Acar Basaran, 35, a spokesperson for the HDP women’s assembly who travelled from the south-eastern city of Batman to protest said the attack shows the potential consequences of fiery rhetoric from the government against women and minorities.
“Each day in Turkey women are killed and we can’t even count how many,” she said.
“We realize that resisting may be the right move to make and if we don’t things are certain to get worse.”
Ankara has moved to close down the HDP, a vocal supporter of rights for women as well as minorities, lately, accusing it of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and US. The HDP denies the claims.
Men also arrived to the event showing solidarity for women and the down sides they face. Mahmout Yildiz, 64, isn't personally afflicted by the Istanbul Convention withdrawal but he said he travelled across the location onboard a bus organised by one of the feminist groups showing his support.
“I am here to resist,” he said. “Women aren't alone.”
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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