February 17, 2022, social media users would open their phones, check their messages, then go on Instagram. Below the various stories of users they follow, they face a disturbing post from 19 hours ago. The post would contain the photo of a smiling girl with a horrendous text overshadowing half of the photo, translating to '16-year-old girl murdered cruelly by having her throat slit by Hüseyin Can Gökçek. Upon reading about her story on news sources, the users would soon realize that she was a teen bride and coerced into marriage by a man five years older. Sadly, the post explained why Sıla no longer lives with us in this earthly realm. We, as women, no longer want to fear going outside, or to have 155 on speed dial; we no longer want to fear for our lives in our own homes and our trusty neighborhoods, or to fear our fathers, brothers, husbands, coworkers, and teachers. We no longer want to hope to give birth to boys, so we won’t have to fear for their safety every time they leave or meet up with their friends. The anxiety Turkish women experience is a core component of everyday situations we navigate, and this fear has reached its apex.
Read MoreImagine living in a country, where nearly five-hundred women become the victims of femicide each year. Every time you sit before the TV, a gut-wrenching feeling rises from your body; a feeling you are well acquainted with. You know what’s about to come, and you give rein to your foolish hopes; maybe not today. You turn on the TV and encounter a picture of her on the big screen. She looks content and peaceful, juxtaposing the somber reporter standing right before her picture. He looks at the camera, and says “She was only sixteen.” Her friends and family do not seem to be astonished by the frightening news. They say it was her dress, her smile, her failure to be a loyal and obedient wife. It was her fate. No one deems it a necessity to acknowledge her parents who forced their young daughter to marry a grown adult, the police officer who disregarded her desperate cries for help, and the man who stole away her hopes, her dreams, and eventually her life.
Read MoreOne day, while my family and I were watching the news, the newscaster started narrating that a woman had been killed with a rifle by her husband because she wanted to divorce him. The story was already frustrating and disgusting, however, the way the newsreader acted bothered me too. There was no sign of sorrow neither on the face nor in the words. The newscaster was acting as if it is such an ordinary thing to occur. It was then I realised that violence towards women has been normalised in my country Turkey.
Read MoreIn underdeveloped countries women and girls are almost sentenced to slavery and beatings for most part of their lives. The first and most important step to get rid of this situation is for girls not to be deprived of their educational freedom. However, under these conditions, women will need to gather the strength to stay away from ignorance and abuse, and ensure that the first step to freedom and other steps to be taken are consolidated and facilitated.
Read MoreBeing a woman... Being a woman is perhaps one of the most difficult things, especially in this period. From the past to the present, the perception that "men are superior to women" from the past to the present is getting stronger and increasing, causing women to struggle for survival in their own lives.
Read MoreIf George Orwell lived in this day and age, he might have described the situation in my country like this: “All Turkish people are equal, but men are more equal than women.” Regardless of age, the principal challenges girls and women in Turkey face are fundamental human rights: to live, to get an education, to start a family of their choice, and to make a living through a profession.
Read MoreIt is a very difficult thing to try to reveal the situation of women, who make up half of the world's population, in society and to process the phenomenon of women in societies. Especially in underdeveloped or developing countries like Turkey. Because among different societies the “position of women” has a complex appearance. In the last 50 years, women's lives have changed radically. Today, women receive more education, make up nearly half of the global workforce, and strive to make their presence felt in all areas of life. Women fight to protect and improve the well-being of themselves and their families by seizing the opportunity to own property, access economic opportunities and earn income in society. However, due to gender inequality in developed and developing countries, they still have not achieved the desired gains in terms of income generation, productivity and making their voices heard in the society. A large number of women worldwide are exposed to different types of violence and/or die during their infancy, childhood, youth, adulthood and old age. In other words, the social disadvantages and inequalities faced by women because they are women force them more than men, weaken them and increase their deprivation in the society more. In this sense, the analysis of the economic, social, political and cultural problems that arise in the participation of women in social life at the national and international level and the creation of solutions are of great importance in terms of empowering and developing women both in the national and international arena.
Read MoreWomen’s rights in Turkey are by all means adequate on paper, but notably dismissed when it comes to seeking justice for all the issues faced by women living in Turkey. Unfortunately, the widespread problems include physical and sexual violence, domestic abuse, forced child marriages and the discrimination against refugee women. In fact, this subject is neglected by a great deal and equity is, sadly, so scarce that people lose more and more hope in resolving these major challenges standing against us with each passing day. Especially after Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention which was playing a prior role in conserving women’s rights. We mustn’t let this stop us from defying the odds and, all things considered, stop us from supporting and being the change, we wish to see.
Read MoreDo you know how many women in Turkey are murdered in a year?
Women in Turkey deserve better lives and rights. Women should have the right to live free from violence and discrimination, to be educated, to vote and to earn an equal wage. First of all, in our current world, women and men are seen neither as the same nor as equal. In an entirely equal world, a person’s gender would not determine their opportunities, freedom or value in society. Women’s rights are human rights. Sadly, this is still not the case in our society today.
Read MoreEveryone checks their social media accounts as soon as they get out of bed. There is a typical social media content, where people share their dogs or selfies with their cup of coffee. That may sound typical for everyone, but not people in Turkey. When Turkish resident checks their accounts in the morning, the first thing they see is a photo of a person who is not living anymore, a woman who got murdered by someone she trusted, maybe trusted the most in her life involving her husband and father. Turkish people are accustomed to a social hierarchy where women are valued less and femicides do not sound extraordinary at all. For decades, women have been fighting to survive. It gives me the thought that only the walls are listening to their screams since only the walls remember the names of women who have been murdered. In Turkey, each street has at least one building wall full of the names of women murdered. However, names get erased from the walls as it rains, so from the minds. Not only femicides but every part of gender inequality has become a part of our customs. Inequality is rooted in some unchangeable rules in public. The social hierarchy lasting for decades drown women every day in an invisible way, starting from their birthday. We have a lot to change. The first step, that everyone is reluctant to accept, is to start changing. As it may be predicted, to be a part of change is not as effortlessly as writing it. Consequently, as time passes nothing but the number of femicides changes nationwide.
Read MoreThe biggest challenge facing women and girls in Turkey is violence. The violence in Turkey against women and girls can range between physical and mental violence. Turkey was ranked 133rd out of 156 countries in the Global Gender Inequality Report. This is a staggering report and has affected many women and girls in Turkey.
Read MoreLincoln Steffens says that: “Morality is only moral when it is voluntary”. Morality and moral laws are not always voluntary laws, especially in Turkey. Both women and men are expected to obey the moral laws which are created a long time ago. The culture and the way that our society has changed from when these moral laws have been created. Not only these laws are being obeyed by social influence, but they are also restrictive, especially to women. When we look at the western societies, women are not bound to act according to moral laws, mostly they are given a choice to act traditionally or modern and society often respects each other. On the other hand, in Turkey, moral laws restrict a woman’s clothing ethics, rights and equality and her choice to go out at night.
Read MoreEvery female has some challenges to face according to their surroundings. I live in Turkey. In my country, women and girls have a lot of hardships to deal with. One of the example is the non-equality between genders. To open it up a bit, it simply means that women and men do not have the same opportunities or rights. For instance, Istanbul Contract is a contract for women to proof their rights which includes the topics like female murders, crucial violence against women, discrimination between genders and gaining the most simple equal rights for women to live peacefully etc. However, our government didn’t seem too friendly to the Istanbul Contract itself and refused to sign it.
Read MoreNowadays countless women in nearly every country are facing great challenges of all kinds. If we focus on Turkey, the biggest challenge for women and girls cannot be specified in my opinion. It is so heartbreaking to state that there are so many serious challenges that females have to encounter in Turkey, that the most challenging amongst them cannot be pointed out.
Read MoreWomen and girls around the world are facing numerous problems from gender gaps to sexism. Being a country connecting Asia and Europe, Turkey battles with a range of issues. The women in my country feel the heavy weight of both cultural and geographical themes and the difficulties of modern life. However, the biggest challenge facing them today is a life-threatening problem; femicide.
Read MoreWe are in the 21st century, the humankind has seen conflicts, wars, and genocides whose roots go all the way back to inequality, nevertheless people around the world still go through so much unfairness in different fields that taking it to the streets and protesting about it is not enough. One of the major areas that inequality reflects on is gender with only six countries giving the man and woman equal legal entitlements. While these six countries are able to provide the same workplace, work conditions, and opportunities for both genders, that’s not the case for Turkey. While the 63,1 percent of the men in Turkey are reported to be employed, that percentage being as low as 28,7 for women makes the unevenness in Turkey’s working life a distinct problem.
Read MoreI was eleven when I was told to stop watching the news as a girl! To ignore is what we teach as a nation to young adults. In Turkey, it is not so easy for a girl to ask for help under the threat of violence because she will be the one to be blamed when a ‘he’ treats her fiercely. All that women can do is wait for their names to appear on television with their photos in black and white. That is why, I chose to draw attention to violence against women in Turkey, which has several different reasons that I will be presenting in the following essay.
Read MoreBeing a woman in Turkey, which is an ancient geography hosted by different civilizations and cultures from east to west, means nothing but the struggling. Although this diversity may seem fascinating from the outside it contains the struggles of thousands of women in different regions. Shouting as ‘’I am here too ‘’ to show your presence. For some, being a woman is being grateful for being able to live.
Read More“Save me”: These were the last words of 25-year-old Canan, mother of two, stabbed to death in the middle of the street by her husband, whom she tried to get divorced, on January 18, 2022, in Adıyaman. Just like the other 280 women killed by their husbands, boyfriends, and partners in Turkey in 2021. 217 women were found suspiciously dead in the same year. We Will Stop Femicide Platform, is a platform that defines its purpose as to fight against all kinds of violations of women's rights especially the right to live. Which was established by the efforts of voluntary participants from the whole society. According to 2021 annual data report of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, 178 of the women in question were at home, 33 in the middle of the street, 12 in the field, 10 at work, 9 in the car, 6 in the hotel, 2 in the entrance of the apartment, 2 in the park, the others were murdered in places such as a coal mine, the a barracks, in front of a school, on a minibus, in front of a toilet outside her house, in a law office, in a factory, in a parking lot, in the garden of a health center.
Read MoreThroughout humanity, women have always been struggling with gender discrimination which has been named sexism. She was sold, she was beaten, she was killed, ignored, tortured, she executed (especially between 15.-18. centuries because of the thought of they are doing black magic), she was blamed to be the bad luck of the ships, she was not allowed to use her voice; banned to sing and talk... Now, we all use this sentence; 'We're in the 21st century!' Meant to be that everything changed from the past. Is it exactly as we think? There have been many murders in Turkey that are countless, happened because of the men's violence. As an example, I would like to talk about a horrendous and inhumane murder in Turkey; Özgecan Aslan.
Read More