The Assembly on Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centers is a platform founded to share experienced in the struggle against violence against women, to create common policies, and to form a permanent communication network between organizations and institutions. The first assembly took place in 1998 as a result of the call from the Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation to women fighting against violence from all around Turkey on November 25, International End Violence against Women Day in Istanbul under the name “The First Assembly on Women’s Shelters”. During the 5th Assembly in 2002 the assembly’s name was changed to “The Assembly on Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centers”. The Assembly changed its contents and manners of debate over the years to meet changing needs, and it continues to be held in a different city annually since 1998.
Since its inception, the assembly has been one of the widest platforms of the struggle against male violence by the Turkish Women’s Movement which came together with the understanding that violence against women can only be prevented by organized and sustained effort, and in these efforts it defends feminist principles and methods. It allows for the sharing of experiences amassed during the struggle against male violence, to create solutions for problems that occur during the operations of solidarity Centers and shelters, and to allow women working in public institutions, municipalities, and women’s organizations in this field who create policies to get to know each other and to cooperate.
Assembly components are independent feminist women’s groups who are the organizers of the Assembly on Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centers who have been coming together since 1998, who have opened shelters and/or solidarity Centers or who aim for this in the short term. Communication between Assembly Components takes place over the k_bilesenler@googlegroups.com mailing list. Organizations which are amongst the assembly components but whose field of focus has changed throughout the process are expected to share their experiences and take on a role suitable to their new field of work in the assembly.
Assembly participants are women from organizations who fight to end violence against women, feminists, and women representatives from departments related to violence against women within public institutions such as municipalities, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies (ASPB), Centers for the Prevention and Monitoring of Violence (ŞÖNİM), and the Women’s Status Bureau.
Aim of the Assembly
The assembly aims to strengthen the struggle against violence against women be it domestic or in other relationships, to facilitate shelters and counseling/solidarity centers to enable women and children to transition into a life away from violence and to be operated by feminist methods, to develop the solidarity and sharing of experiences amongst women’s groups and to create shared policies in the struggle against violence against women.
Assemblies from 1998 until now
- Assembly – 1998 – İstanbul
- Assembly – 1999 – Mersin
- Assembly – 2000 – İstanbul
- Assembly – 2001 – Antalya
- Assembly – 2002 – İzmit
- Assembly – 2003 – Ankara
- Assembly – 2004 – Çanakkale
- Assembly – 2005 – Diyarbakır
- Assembly – 2006 – İzmir
- Assembly – 2007 – İstanbul
- Assembly – 2008 – Van
- Assembly – 2009 – Adana
- Assembly – 2010 – Söke
- Assembly – 2011- Nevşehir
- Assembly – 2012 – İzmir
- Assembly – 2013 – İstanbul
- Assembly – 2014 – Diyarbakır
- Assembly – 2015 – Ankara
- Assembly – 2016 – Adana
