WE WANT AT LEAST 3000 SHELTERS…
The Assembly of Women’s Shelters, held for the first time in 1998, convened for the third time on 18-19-20 November in İstanbul upon a call by Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation and with the support of Heinrich Böll Foundation. More than 150 women from 45 women’s organizations in various provinces across Turkey as well as from TRNC attended the Assembly.
The Assembly stated that the purpose of getting together was to set up a lasting communication and information network among women, women’s groups and women’s institutions working to combat violence against women, noting the importance of being organised for standing in solidarity against the male dominant system and all institutions and policies feeding this system. The Assembly also noted the need to develop a “2000-2010 Action Plan to Combat Violence Against Women”.
The Assembly arrived at the following conclusions:
- A campaign should be launched immediately to open the shelters of Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation and Women’s Solidarity Foundation, a major achievement in women’s movement in Turkey,
- As demanded in the 1st Council and the 2nd Council, adequate funding should absolutely be earmarked in the budget for shelters that would be run by independent women,
- The new social assistance system, which is expected to be developed and take effect in the implementation period of the 8th Five Year Development Plan, should include women and children among the population groups prioritized for support,
- Women’s guesthouses under SHÇEK should become widespread across the country,
- The funding earmarked from the budget for SHÇEK should be increased to improve services for women. Existing women’s guesthouses/shelters etc. should be strengthened and their service efficiency should be enhanced. Women who have a woman’s perspective should be employed in these organizations. These services should be excluded from austerity measures. These institutions should be run in communication with independent women’s groups,
- As promised, municipalities should open shelters. Campaigns should be conducted for these shelters to work in communication with women’s groups,
- A part of municipal housing should be allocated for women experiencing violence,
- The Law on Local Governments should obligate municipalities to open shelters as part of their work,
- A nationwide “VIOLENCE HELPLINE” should immediately be set up, which can be called dialling the same number from anywhere in the country. The helpline should provide information on what urgent action to take and where to contact and ensure that callers can reach the women’s groups in their region,
- Support to Women Fund should be established to economically empower women and in particular women who apply to counselling centres and shelters. Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund should earmark funding for Support to Women Fund,
- Women experiencing violence should be allowed to take free vocational and skills trainings and be given quotas in job placement schemes. Turkish Employment Agency should make necessary arrangements to support the cost of living of women and their children,
- SHÇEK Community Centres, which provide services primarily for women, should become prevalent nationwide, as these centres contribute significantly to preventing violence against women and work in coordination with women’s groups on a number of activities, including literacy classes, trainings on women’s human rights and education of mother and child etc.,
- Public Education Centres, which are widely organised across the country, should prioritise preventing violence against women and raising the status of women in coordination with women’s groups,
- Women’s human rights and the ways to counter violence should be explained to women via radio and tv broadcasting,
- Discriminatory practices in education should end. Discriminatory and sexist topics in textbooks should be removed. Work should begin to teach women the ways to protect themselves from violence.
- The Parliament should pass the Turkish Civil Code immediately and, as demanded by women,
- Discriminatory articles in the Turkish Criminal Code should be fully removed; specific regulations should be included in the Turkish Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure addressing violence against women, honour killings and incest and introducing effective sanctions,
- It is necessary to request the Ministry of Justice to issue a circular on the standard implementation of the Law no. 4320 on the Protection of the Family on account of the many setbacks experienced in the implementation of the law. Cooperation should be made with bar associations to resolve the setbacks experienced in the implementation of the law. Judges who fail to adhere to the provisions of the law should be reported by the relevant attorney to the Women’s Rights Implementation Centre, if any, of the pertinent Bar Association, otherwise to the Women Commissions or the Board of Directors of the Bar Association. These institutions should then file a complaint to the “Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors” about judges and prosecutors who fail to adhere to the provisions under the law,
- Family Courts should be established as soon as possible,
- In divorce proceedings, due measures should be taken to effectively satisfy women’s demands. The Ministry of Justice should issue a circular allowing freeze orders on the assets of the husband under Article 103 of the Code of Civil Procedure in case the woman in a divorce proceeding demands pecuniary and non-pecuniary compensation,
- Turkish Penal Code and Labour laws should include regulations addressing “sexual harassment”; and Commissions should be established in workplaces to receive and consider “Complaints of Sexual Harassment”,
- In order to prevent “uncontrolled prostitution”, the Ministry of Interior is revising the Regulation on Brothels to include transvestites and homosexuals. As we emphasized in the 1999 Council, all regulations on this matter should be revised with the engagement of sex workers and in consideration of the international declaration on the right of sex workers, women’s perspective and ethics. Furthermore, the right of sex workers and persons with different sexual preferences to work in sectors other than prostitution sector should be legally recognised.
- The Prime Minister, the Minister of Interior and the State Minister in charge of Women’s Affairs should be called out to take action for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women),
- Given that the power relationship, the power imbalance and inequality between women and men lie at the root of violence against women, the Framework Law on Equality between Women and Men should be enacted immediately,
- The Law on the Organization of the Directorate General for Women’s Status and Problems should be adopted,
- Joint projects should be carried out with all relevant central and local public institutions to scale up information-giving activities to protect/support women’s physiological and mental health. Vocational trainings of relevant experts should be prioritised. It is important to ensure the effective functioning of vocational ethics committees in institutions that have a mandate on combatting violence against women,
- Women who do not have social security should be allowed to use health services free of charge. Joint projects should be conducted with chambers of medicine in this regard,
- In every province, directorates of health should have vehicles that provide local and mobile health services for women,
- Staff at community healthcare centres should be trained to keep a record of forms and surveys carried out during routine medical scans in neighbourhoods, which contain information on violence against women,
- It is essential to prevent violence against women while they are getting health services. Presence of any third persons during medical examinations, including gendarmerie and police officers etc., should be prohibited,
- Emergency services at hospitals should have specific services for women who seek assistance as a result of experiencing violence,
- Legal amendments should be adopted to eliminate the requirement of parental or spousal consent for getting an abortion and tubal ligation; and the permissible length of terminable pregnancy should be extended,
- Women’s access to current social assistance and services should be facilitated. Women’s groups should be represented in the board of trustees of Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations so that they can be involved in the decision-making process vis-à-vis the demands made by women for assistance/support.
As stressed in the Concluding Declarations of the previous two councils, the political power and local organizations have a legal duty to prevent gender-based discrimination and violence against women. Nonetheless, we have yet to see any tangible initiatives in this regard. In our last council meeting, we once more saw that we could not be content with just mentioning these points or requesting improvements. Now, we are organized and determined as we stand before you with a nation-wide action plan.
We once more remind the authorities of their duties; we invite all women and women’s groups to unite and stand in solidarity and take joint action against violence; we call on all relevant professional organizations and members of the media to support us.
WE WANT AT LEAST 3000 SHELTERS…
Participants:
- Adana Bar Association Women’s Rights Commission
- Adana Women’s Shelter and Protection Association
- Ankara Bar Association Women’s Solidarity Centre
- Ankara Bar Association Women’s Commission
- Ankara Women’s Solidarity and Protection Association
- Antalya Women’s Counselling and Solidarity Centre
- Antalya Women’s Assembly
- Anti-Militarist Feminists
- Independent Women’s Association (Mersin)
- Boğaziçi University Women’s Studies Club
- Bursa Independent Women’s Initiative
- Cemre Women’s Magazine
- Women of the Republic Association-İstanbul Central Branch Cumhuriyet
- Association for Utilizing the Handicraft of Çanakkale Housewives
- Aegean Women’s Solidarity Foundation
- Feminist Women’s Circle
- İstanbul Bar Association Women’s Rights Implementation Centre
- IRIS Women Watch Group
- İzmir Bar Association Women’s Commission
- İzmir Karşıyaka City Council Women’s Commission
- Jiyan Kurdish Women’s Culture Centre
- Women’s Solidarity Foundation (Ankara)
- The Women’s Library and Information Centre Foundation
- Women2000 Women’s Human Rights Information and Documents Centre
- Women’s Human Rights Project
- Women’s World Magazine
- Women’s Solidarity Foundation (İstanbul)
- KA-MER -Women’s Centre (Diyarbakır)
- Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK)
- Cypriot-Turkish Reconciliation Association
- KİDOG- NGO Advocacy Network for Women
- TRNC Group for Preventing Domestic Violence
- Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation
- Pazartesi Magazine
- SHÇEK Social Services and Child Protection Agency
- SHÇEK Ankara Women’s Guesthouse
- SHÇEK Antalya Women’s Guesthouse
- SHÇEK Gazi Community Centre
- SHÇEK İstanbul Women’s Guesthouse
- SHÇEK İzmir Women’s Guesthouse
- SHÇEK Samsun Women’s Guesthouse
- “ÖTE”-Kİ (THE OTHER) I Am a Lesbian Feminist Magazine Project
- TÜBAKKOM-Union of Turkish Bar Associations Women’s Law Committee
- Flying Broom Foundation
- 2000 March, Anatolian Side Initiative