ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Around 1,000 women gathered on Monday near Istanbul’s main Taksim Square, protesting what they see as a lack of action by authorities to prevent and punish violence against women in a country where feminicide rates have risen in recent years.
Protesters, mostly women wearing purple flags with women and LGBTI + signs and wearing purple masks that said “We will win our freedom,” gathered in a main street after police closed entrances to Taksim Square on International Day. of the Woman.
Police women were held with their arms tied at the end of the street, blocking the entrance to the square, while behind them were fences, police with riot gear and water cannon trucks.
“Women are very strong and they are afraid of that. They should block the killers, not us, ”said Ipek Deniz, a 36-year-old nurse involved in the protests.
The feminicide rate doubled roughly between 2011 and 2019, according to a group that monitors women’s murders, which also said that by 2021, 51 women have been murdered and another 26 have died in suspicious circumstances.
Turkey does not maintain official statistics on femicide.
Over the weekend, a video showing a woman being beaten and kicked in the head by her ex-husband on the street in northern Turkey sparked outrage on social media. The suspect was then arrested, media reports said, while the woman was hospitalized.
Speaking at a congress of the women’s wing of his AK Party, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would set up a committee in parliament to address issues related to violence against women.
“We feel that someone is calling on the girls to leave their father’s house as soon as possible. Turkey will somehow solve the problem of violence against women, the real threat is for this mentality to take root, ”she said.
The protester around Taksim chanted “Feminicide is political” and “Life is ours, the choice is ours, the streets are ours, you can support your family.”
“We are oppressed under male power every day. Women murderers are rewarded for not being punished, ”said Sumeyye Kose, a 21-year-old student.
“We are here against growing violence, against systematic LGBTI phobia and against feminicide. We will win, ”he said.
Written by Ali Kucukgocmen; Edited by Steve Orlofsky