For seventeen years, I lived safely. For seventeen years, my family supported me. I wasn’t forced to change my clothing because I got my period at twelve. I wasn’t forced to get married at thirteen. I wasn’t forced to have kids by fourteen. I was never forced to do anything because of my gender. Luckily, I was privileged enough to be safe when safety should never have become a privilege but a right. From the day I was born, I was taught to depend on myself, not on a man where lots of girls were taught to find a rich husband. I never dreamt of becoming a “housewife” or “a servant to my future husband” – the jobs that all women must have in order to be worthy in society. I was able to get a good education in the best schools where many girls were left at home to do housework.
Read MoreSeeing what my mother went through that day in the car, I promised myself that I
would never leave a woman alone in this situation. Since then, I have become more aware
and sensitive about women’s issues.
Read MoreI was zapping through the channels on TV to watch something interesting with my ten year
old sister. On a Turkish news channel, we saw the story of a jealous young man who beat
up his wife. He argued that she deserved to be beaten because he caught her glimpsing
another man on the street.
Read MoreZülfinaz? Only Zülfinaz, again? Fine, you can come and solve this question as well.” Zülfinaz, 15, best in her class of 60 (mostly filled with boys), their levels varying from 1st Grade to 8th Grade. She was going to the only school she could. A little, village school, with a faculty to student ratio of 1 to 60. Yet her teacher, saw something in her.
Read MoreIn 1911, the penalty for adultery was made equal for men and women; in1917, forced and underage marriages were declared illegitimate; and, in 1926, with the new Turkish Civil Code, a monogamous marriage in which women have a right to divorce, custody, and property was made compulsory (Türkiye’de Kadın); yet a century has passed and the headline still reads: "15-year-old girl killed by family after being raped by cousins"
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