Outrage as Turkish courts seek to silence anti-femicide campaigners
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Despite Turkey having one of the worst records in Europe of femicide, or women being murdered, a prominent group challenging this phenomenon faces being shut down by the courts. The case against the "We Will Stop Femicide Platform has caused outrage and nationwide protests.
In Istanbul earlier this month, hundreds of protestors held up images of murdered women, most of them killed by boyfriends or husbands.
The We Will Stop Femicide Platform is at the forefront of forcing the scourge of femicide onto the political agenda. But now, the group is fighting for its survival, accused under Turkey's civil code of undermining family values and morality.
“I am really angry, I am really upset,” said this woman protestors who didn’t want to be identified. “We are fighting against crime; the government is not supporting us, and I am really upset. It’s the only organisation that fights against crime against women.”
The platform has achieved the rare phenomenon of crossing the usually strict divide between religious and secular. Women wearing religious headscarves stand shoulder to shoulder with their secular sisters – as violence and the murder of women transcend religious barriers.
Too successful?
Platform member Seyma Ozcan, she says their only crime has been success.
“They’re trying to stop us with unfounded claims,” says Ozcan. “For years we’ve been following all the cases about killings, violence and rape against women, and compiling data. This case is without any solid evidence by people who want to stop our work.”
Addressing the Istanbul protest, Fidan Ataselim, secretary-general of the We Will Stop Femicides platform, vows they’ll fight the court case, to rapturous applause.
The platform has drawn national and international praise for its social media campaigns and demonstrations. It’s successfully put several high-profile cases onto the national agenda, embarrassing authorities over their failure to protect women.
That’s resulted in many cases of violence or murder being reopened, leading to successful prosecutions.
The platform also runs a 24 hour telephone line for women seeking help to escape violence or families seeking legal redress for murderer daughters. Legal assistance is also provided to the families. But such efforts are now under threat by the closure case.
“It’s hugely intimidating. We’re not even talking about what happens if we’re closed, we’re continuing our fight not to have our platform shut down,” said Ataselim.
“But just the attempt to close it, is part of the suppression, criminalisation, and polarisation policies against democratic public organisations, and the struggle for women’s rights.”
Widespread alarm
The closure case has drawn widespread criticism by rights groups both at home and abroad.
Given that Turkey has a huge problem of domestic violence and violence against women, for the government or the authorities to target a campaigning platform that focuses on murders of women is really appalling,” said Emma Sinclair Webb, the Turkey representative of the New York based Human Rights Watch.
“This platform has been highly successful in raising public awareness of the issues to a very wide part of the society in lots of different parts of the country and an attempt to close them down just looks like a reprisal against them for their success as a campaigning organisation.”
Presidential and parliamentary elections will be held next year and are expected to be the closest in decades. So this case is seen as an attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his religious-rooted AKP party to consolidate conservative voters.
Last year, Erdogan pulled Turkey out of the Istanbul Convention, the first international treaty focused solely on protecting women against violence. He claimed it undermined family values.
“What the government is trying to do is leave women victims alone in the court cases," warns Nazli Okten, of Istanbul’s Galatasaray University, claiming the closure case is part of a wider agenda.
“Women are seen as the enemy, and women rights movements are demonised by the government. So people see this kind of extension of this movement for the criminalisation of the opposition in Turkey.”
Struggle for justice
Among those addressing the Istanbul rally was Nihat Palandoken, whose daughter was murdered by her boyfriend. He tells the crowd that the We Will Stop Femicide platform stood by his family in their struggle for justice. Other parents of murdered daughters also addressed the rally.
“We Will Stop Femicides Platform, is our organisation. When they target this platform, it means they’re targeting us,” said Palandoken.
“They’ve scratched our wound one more time. Instead of stopping women from being killed, they’re trying to close this platform based on harming family moral values. Do you know when our family moral values were harmed? When they withdrew from the Istanbul Convention.”
At the end of the rally, a roll call was read out of all the 77 women murdered this year.
The grim reality is that at the next rally, there'll inevitably be new names. The closure case against the We Will Stop Femicide Platform can only increase concerns that the government is more interested in silencing those fighting for justice, than bringing an end to femicide.
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