On 21-22 November, the 1st Assembly of Women’s Shelters was held upon a call by Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation to mark the “25 November – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women”. The Assembly held at Maçka Conference Hall of İstanbul Technical University attracted more than 100 women from various provinces across Turkey as well as from TRNC.
The participants in the Assembly included representatives from women groups and municipalities which have either already opened or were about to open women’s shelters and women’s counselling centres, as well as representatives from women’s guesthouses affiliated with the Social Services and Child Protection Agency, the General Directorate on the Status and Problems of Women and independent women groups.
The Assembly once again established the persisting lack of policies to eliminate violence against women, demonstrating that even the extent and existence of violence are a subject of debate. However, women live intertwined with all forms of violence ranging from domestic and non-domestic battery, marital rape to political murders committed in the name of honour, incest, virginity checks, confiscation of women’s income or salary, and denial of the woman’s right to be her person and humiliation.
As defined by the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women adopted in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly, “violence against women” refers to any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. All political and legal regulations should be made in line with this definition.
Life safety and a life free of violence are women’s most natural rights. The state and society have a fundamental duty to ensure a life free of violence. Violence against women is one of the most severe violations of human rights, and offenders should be effectively punished. Amendments should immediately be made to the Civil Code that regulates proprietorship and power relations between the sexes within the family.
Violence against women cannot be dismissed as a “private matter” and a “domestic problem”. Because the mechanism that feeds violence and blocks women’s way out of violence is not only domestic dynamics but also the economy, the law, social traditions, political policies and all patriarchal institutions and policies which, by means of education policies, discriminate against women, make women dependent on men and consciously aim at destroying women’s personalities.
We no longer want to live under the hegemony of such institutions and policies. That being the case, we know policies and relevant bodies should be established nationwide. We know that the only power we can rely on in our struggle to achieve our goal is women’s self-power and solidarity among women.
The 1st Assembly of Women’s Shelters primarily urges all women to get organised against violence.
The Assembly convened for the first time this year as part of this organisation and will continue to convene each year in a different province. We, women participants of this council, have established a common communication and solidarity network with the awareness that violence against women can only be prevented by a constant and organised struggle.
All participants of the two-day council stressed the indispensability and urgency of the below non-exhaustive list of requests to combat violence against women.
- First of all, funds should be earmarked from the state budget and the budgets of local governments to support existing women’s shelters and solidarity centres.
- Every neighbourhood should have a women’s shelter and a counselling centre whose confidentiality and safety should be ensured. There should be institutions in place which are always accessible to women and provide services, particularly in case women experience violence, including providing first-line and urgent information, informing women of urgent legal actions to take, meeting women’s urgent shelter needs, providing medical and psychological support, as well as providing day care and education facilities for women’s children. These institutions should be run in accordance with international standards and by women who have a woman’s perspective.
- The Ministry of Interior should send a circular to mukhtars (elected representatives of the neighbourhood community) to ensure confidentiality of information related to school transfers and identities of women and children staying at women’s shelters.
- Women’s shelters should be varied based on the target group in need, such as rape victims, child mothers, incest victims, sex workers, drug addicts, lesbians etc.
- The State and local governments should provide free and long-term legal assistance and medical treatment for women, ensure that they have shelter, professional training and job opportunities and establish institutions that would provide daycare and education for children.
- Given the prevalence of cases of rape and/or incest that require urgent measures, specially trained medical, legal and police personnel should follow up on these cases. Every hospital should have a special and well-trained medical team to carry out the first examination. Children aged below 18 who have experienced incest should immediately be placed under protection under Law no. 4320 and other relevant legislation.
- Coordination bodies should be established to ensure a coordinated response among relevant institutions, including women’s shelters and counselling centres, the police force, judicial bodies, and social and financial assistance institutions.
- It is essential to develop educational programs and materials to clarify what constitutes violence, explain the methods to protect oneself from violence and sexual harassment and implement these programs in all education institutions starting from preschool.
- It is essential to stop sexist media broadcasts that legitimise and justify violence against women in an attempt to increase ratings.
- Special trainings should be given to all professional groups (the judicial organisation, medical institutions, educational institutions etc.) that have obligations with respect to combatting domestic violence. Policies should be developed in this regard.
- It is obvious that the Law no. 4320 adopted to prevent domestic violence is not well known even by women and its practitioners (police stations, the office of prosecutors, courts and lawyers) or where it is known, it is not effectively implemented and lacks the system needed for its implementation. All relevant institutions (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministries that have a mandate on women and human rights and the Turkish National Police) should launch campaigns to effectively promote and implement the law. Family Courts, that will be specialised courts with women judges presiding, should be established as soon as possible. The definition of violence specified by law should be implemented in line with the UN definition of violence, which comprises all forms of violence, including physical-psychological-economic-sexual violence. It is necessary to eliminate hesitations about whether the law should cover unmarried women cohabiting with a partner or women living separately from their spouses for any number of reasons, including divorce. Protective cautionary orders should be issued on paper without delay. To better implement the law, it should be included in the curriculum of police training institutions and all schools. All incumbent police staff should take mandatory vocational training on the law. Women bureaus should be set up in police stations to receive and follow up on complaints by women and specially trained women police officers should be assigned to these bureaus.
- All bar associations should start planning as soon as possible to establish Women’s Committees or Legal Counselling Centres for Women, which would provide legal counselling on violence against women with experienced women jurists and volunteers working at women’s shelters and counselling centres as well as a staff of women lawyers who would provide judicial support.
- Moreover, support should be provided to independent Legal Counselling Centres for Women, which will be set up across the country by law students, interns and lawyers who are part of the women’s movement. Support should also be provided to Urgent Medical and Psychological Counselling Centres, which will be set up again by women.
We know that combatting violence against women is a long-winded and challenging effort. While we combat violence, the disappearance of Konca Kuriş who suffered the most severe form of violence, the rape and murder of Serpil the teacher and other similar incidents clearly demonstrate the graveness of the situation. Therefore, we invite all women and women groups, without any discrimination on the ground of nationality, religion or language, to unite based on the consciousness of womanhood, our common feature; and we call on all professional chambers and groups and members of the press to contribute to satisfying the above-listed demands.