The 23rd Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centres held on 7-10 November was in online format this year due to Covid-19 pandemic conditions. The Assembly, held under the main heading of “Violence, Care Work and the Struggle for Equality During the Pandemic”, brought together 270 women from 27 provinces including independent feminists, representatives from women’s organizations, LGBTI+ organizations, municipalities and public institutions to discuss policies, practices and methods of struggle in the field of male violence against women.
Both in Turkey and worldwide, we are facing a rise in the attacks against the İstanbul Convention and our rights by way of discussing the concept of gender equality. Despite the reckless and widespread discussions of these misogynist policies, our struggle of equality grows with solidarity at the national and global level. Attacks against the rights of women worldwide and the inequality increased by the Covid-19 pandemic led us to have similar experiences and reinforced our common fight as women worldwide.
In Turkey, since March, when the first case of Covid-19 was announced, we see that the state has been taking measures which disregard gender, deepening the inequality between women and men instead of tackling gender inequality. Increasing amount of household chores and care work have been left to the responsibility of women, while women working mostly in the service sector or informal economy are left unemployed. The pandemic has aggravated male violence and increased women’s need for support. Perpetual problems in anti-violence mechanisms have exacerbated during this period. As women’s need for support has increased, it has become more difficult to access social support and safety mechanisms. Sexist approaches in public services and social relations have been reinforced. As we, the organizations that form the Assembly, pointed out previously, a need has risen to have an urgent action plan. However, the Ministry ignored the demands of women’s organizations and did not prioritise the efforts to combat violence against women in pandemic conditions.
While violence has fed on inequalities, the problems already existing in the fight against violence have multiplied during the pandemic. During this time, as women’s organizations we have encountered bad practices and wrong referrals in most of the cases we have been following with respect to women’s applications for assistance against violence. We have witnessed that it has become even more difficult for women to build a life free from male violence on account of the lack of services which have not been provided under the pretext of the pandemic. We have seen that law enforcement officers in particular not only failed to fulfil their main duties including issuing orders under the law no. 6284, receiving complaints and referring women to shelters, but also misinformed women. Deepening inequality and poverty led to a rise in applications for economic and social support. In particular young women, who are students or who have lost their income, had to return to their parental family during the pandemic. These women could not receive any support because they do not exist in the eyes of social services. Migrant women, women with disabilities, older women and LGBTI+ women facing multiple discrimination had to cope with different forms of violence. Regression in the field of violence against women has continued especially in local governments where a trustee has been assigned. The absence of independent women’s organizations that had been closed and the lack of women’s shelters and women’s counselling centres at municipalities have become more evident during the pandemic since the mechanisms have not worked well at all.
During this process, we have seen once more that in order to prevent male violence against women it is essential to implement stable policies based on the İstanbul Convention and to carry out an urgent plan of action/measures.
- The Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centres hereby shares with the public its demands / main headings of its struggle identified jointly at this year’s Council. We will not give up on our struggle for equality for our rights and lives.
- The İstanbul Convention and the Law no. 6284 should be effectively implemented.
- In times of crisis and disasters including pandemics or earthquakes, all parties, in particular the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, should immediately come together and develop an urgent action plan to tackle male violence against women.
- A 24/7 helpline should be set up to provide support only to women. Experts in the field of violence against women should support this helpline. The helpline should have staff who knows sign language and can provide services to deaf women by video calling. The helpline should be made known to women across the country.
- In addition to KADES application, alternative solutions should be developed for emergencies involving women who do not have a smart phone. These alternative solutions should be available not only in Turkish but in multiple languages and enable women to reach police support even if they do not have a mobile phone.
- Women who cannot use KADES application because they do not have a phone or internet should have access to free phone and internet.
- The number and the capacity of women’s shelters should be increased to meet the need for shelters without requiring any conditions.
- Existing Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centres should be brought in line with international standards and be accessible to all women. Women should receive qualified social support.
- Women who want to go to a women’s shelter should be able to receive support from the closest social service institution that has units specialized on violence against women. In present circumstances, ŞÖNİMs should be able to provide this support. It is necessary to remove the requirement of going to a police station first to put in a request to stay at a women’s shelter. The public should be informed that women who contact law enforcement for urgent assistance against violence and refrain from filing a complaint against the perpetrator can in fact benefit from the Law no. 6284 without filing in a complaint.
- Women over 60, unidentified/undocumented migrant women and women who have sons over 12 years old should be admitted to women’s shelters together with their children. Women’s shelters should be adjusted to accommodate women with disabilities and the legislation should be revised to allow women with disabilities to be admitted to women’s shelters instead of referring them care centres as is the current case. An empowering policy on women’s shelters should be adopted which covers young women and employed women and does not cut them off from their lives and social networks.
- It is necessary to eliminate any adverse conditions negatively affecting the support provided by the women’s shelters and solidarity centres. An adequate number of staff should be employed and a sufficient budget should be allocated. Expert staff who provide support to women should follow feminist social service principles, a sine qua non of the combat against violence against women.
- Women’s shelters should carry out child-oriented work in consideration of the best interests of the child.
- Migrant women and refugee women who experience violence should be supported in consideration of their circumstances. These women should be supported even if they are undocumented. Interpreters should be available at women’s shelters and solidarity centres for migrant women and refugee women.
- In times of crisis and disasters including pandemics and earthquakes, convenient public buildings and private compounds should serve as shelters for women to stay in quarantine for the required period. Alternative services should be planned and developed such as allocating vacancy quotas at hotels. Contingency solutions should be developed to meet the sheltering need for extraordinary circumstances.
- Rapid testing and diagnostic services should be available for women in order to facilitate their admission to shelters in pandemic conditions.
- Public officials working in the field of male violence against women should receive inclusive and pro-women trainings which address the needs of all systematically women, cover different forms of violence, have a viewpoint based on gender equality and consider the experiences of women’s organizations.
- In the efforts to combat violence against women, all central public institutions and local governments should be in coordination with women’s organizations, taking into account the experiences of women’s organizations.
- Every municipality should open a women’s solidarity centre and make it a political priority to ensure the sustainability of these centres.
- Judicial Assistance bureaus of bar associations should assign attorneys, without any conditions or requiring any documentation, to all women who demand to enjoy their rights under the Law no. 6284 and who seek assistance with respect to conflicts related to the family law. It should be made mandatory for attorneys working in the field of judicial assistance and the Code of Criminal Procedure to take periodic trainings on violence against women, gender equality and relevant legislation.
- The Union of Turkish Bar Associations and its Women’s Law Committee (TÜBAKKOM) should carry out activities to inform the public about Violence Against Women and binding international conventions. Furthermore, it should take on an active and effective role to remove the barriers to women in accessing justice and put in place necessary practices.
- Judicial interview rooms, where women can feel safe and comfortable, should be made available when law enforcement officers receive their complaints of violence. Women should be well informed about the Law no. 6284. Law enforcement should immediately issue protective cautionary order under the Law no. 6284 if delay might cause prejudice or if there is a risk to life safety. Law enforcement should follow up on the preventive and protective cautionary orders issued under the Law no. 6284.
- Law enforcement officers, who are in breach of duty towards women including arbitrarily giving wrong and misleading information to women, maltreatment and failing to file complaints, should face sanctions.
- Support provided to women should be in their native language (including sign language).
- Women should be able to access support, without any discrimination, for the violence they suffer.
- It is necessary to scale up social assistance to lift women out of poverty and consequently help them distance themselves from violence. Social assistance should be diversified in accordance with women’s unique needs and differences.
- Empowering mechanisms should be developed to support women and meet their needs. Support mechanisms in times of crisis such as pandemics should increasingly be in place.
- Application process for all types of social and economic support should be easy and clear for women. Relevant staff should support women if they need help during the application process.
- Psycho-social and legal support should be provided to women by experts working with a pro-women perspective. The number and the capacity of current service units as well as the number of staff should be increased.
- The practice of assigning trustees to local governments should be abandoned. Closed women’s support centres should be promptly reopened in accordance with their functions. Dismissed municipal staff should be reinstated and the efforts to combat violence against women should be continued effectively.
- All relevant parties should acknowledge the impact of the pandemic on violence against women and the consequent rising need for support, also recognizing the findings that the pandemic has led to a rise in women’s poverty, women’s workload and the need for care work.
- To stop the practice of imposing the full burden of care work on women and to relieve women from work care, it is necessary to establish tools and institutions, which offer a comprehensive social policy and are not based on assistance mentality. Social policies should be developed to preclude the domestic exploitation of women and the aggravation of gender inequality.
- Nurseries for babies and children, day care services, short term and/or permanent residential care services should be available 24/7, free and accessible in pandemic conditions.
- Birth control methods and termination of unwanted pregnancies should be free and accessible. De facto abortion ban and all barriers to abortion should be removed. Medical abortion should become accessible.
- Social policies should be developed to meet the specific needs of young women and youth centres/community centres etc. should be opened to provide young women support with respect to employment, violence and social life. Existing structures should be restructured to eliminate gender inequality.
- Support mechanisms should be provided equally to all women without public officials ignoring/secondarizing/normalizing the patriarchal violence inflicted by the parental family.
- Single young women in particular should receive sexual health services free of charge and without discrimination. Their right to confidentiality should be protected and their access to information should be facilitated.
- Systemic infrastructures should be established to enable existing and new services to be available in digital and online format. Programs and trainings should be provided to increase women’s digital literacy and women should have free access to digital tools and the internet.
Long live women’s solidarity for a world free of Violence and Shelters!
Components of the Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centres
- Adana Women’s Solidarity Centre and Shelter Association (AKDAM)
- Antalya Women’s Counselling Centre and Solidarity Association
- Aydın Söke Women’s Solidarity Association
- Bodrum Women’s Solidarity Association
- Buca Evka-1 Women’s Culture and Solidarity Association (BEKEV)
- Çanakkale Association for Utilizing Women’s Handicraft and Women’s Counselling Centre (ELDER)
- Çiğli Evka-2 Women’s Culture Association (ÇEKEV)
- Edirne Women’s Central Solidarity Association (EKAMEDER)
- Association of Women with Disabilities (ENG-KAD)
- Fethiye Women’s Counselling and Solidarity Association
- İzmir Women’s Solidarity Association
- Women’s Solidarity Foundation
- Women’s Solidarity Foundation (KADAV)
- Koza Women’s Association
- Mersin Independent Women’s Association (BKD)
- Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation
- Mor Salkım Women’s Solidarity Association
- Muğla Emek Benim Women’s Association
- Rosa Women’s Association
- Şanlıurfa Yaşamevi Women’s Solidarity Association
- International Migrant Women’s Solidarity Association (UGKDD)
- Life, Women, Environment, Culture and Business Cooperative (YAKA-KOOP)
*Adıyaman Women’s Life Association, Ceren Women’s Association, Gökkuşağı Women’s Association, Muş Women’s Roof Association, Muş Women’s Association, Selis Women’s Association and Van Women’s Association, which are components of the Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity/Counselling Centres, could not be listed above because they were closed by the Decree (KHK/677) dated 22 November 2016 on Some Measures Within the Scope of the State of Emergency.