Just Another Hashtag by Mısra Koşarsoy

Tucking my hands in my pockets, I march swiftly towards the subway. It is already  catching up on 10 pm and the streets are merely deserted. I feel the minute  assuaging knowledge of my mother obtaining my live location; however, the  anxiety is not diminishing, rather revolting infinite adversities in my head, urging  me to bolt faster. I only realize how much I hold my breath when I see one or two  people and walk in a measured pace. 

I am now at ease knowing that it is plausibly safe. 

I acknowledge that statistically many women suffer from this fear not only in  streets but also at their homes where they are harassed by their fathers, husbands,  relatives, even their sons. Knowing the demographics, it is inevitable that wherever  you are, you sense terror rising your pulse, crushing your heart, making you run  away faster from the probability of rape, abuse, violence, and death. Hence the  constant insecurity in women’s life, the biggest challenge facing women and girls  in Turkey is the substantial possibility of being murdered just at your doorstep (like  Ceren Özdemir). 

The women homicide rates significantly proliferated in years 2019 and 2020, as it  is reported that 421 and 408 women were murdered respectively, causing public frustration that tried every possible way of having the situation controlled  legitimately. These attempts included worldwide recognition on social media  platforms, support from international influences and groundbreaking protests that  tore down the streets, therefore, caused a great outcome in terms of awareness.  Immeasurable number of hashtags were notably used to the degree where any  Turkish knew the meaning of a white name written on a black surface with a  hashtag. 

However, no matter how loud the efforts were, the government’s respond was a  deafening void. 

Instead of legislating the” Istanbul Sozlesmesi”, an accord which regulates the  punishments, consequences, and limitations of femicides, the parliamentarians are  constantly vindicating the killers’ excuses, resulting in encouragement of others to  have the freedom of committing the same crime. Additionally, as political  enforcements are unnoticed on the issue, so are the law forces. Condoning to  murders, such as the killing of the woman who was burned until her body was no  longer recognizable due to the third-degree burns (Aylin Sözer), but also abiding  the law when the subject is of those who tried to help the women in need, law  entities are also aggravating the unbalanced law scales. 

For over a decade now, with such insensibility received from the officials, what  requires to be done is continuously halting to normalize the situation. No matter how ignorant authorities we have and how hard the road ahead is, we need to  acknowledge that this is a battle of survival. The moment we stop fighting for our  rights, we are just another hashtag.