Women's organizations in Turkey fear increase in femicides if the government's new plans approved

Women's organizations in Turkey fear an increase in femicides in light of the plans of the Ministry of Family and Social Services.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Sunday, 25 August 2024

The Turkish state has long been based on a synthesis of Islamism and fascism. Part of this policy is to allow the authorities and religious institutions access to the family sphere. Now the Ministry of Family and Social Services, controlled by the Islamist ruling party AKP, has published a perspective paper and an action plan "to protect and strengthen the family." The action plan announced by Family Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş includes a block warden system. Each building is to have a "family advisor for religious guidance and spiritual information."

The work of the advisors is to be focused on the basis of an assessment of "social risks." These "advisors" come from so-called civil society organizations. In the past, similar tasks were carried out by Islamist sects or right-wing extremist associations. Women's organizations and civil society warn that this project violates secularism and individual freedom and promotes social discrimination and violence against women.

Tülin Osmanoğulları, representative of the "Stop Femicides" platform in Izmir, told Yeni Özgur Politika newspaper that the regime had built misogynistic alliances with the 2023 elections and has since then attacked women's rights even more strongly at all levels. For example, members of the Islamist Hüda Par entered parliament on the AKP ticket. A party that, with its predecessor organization Hezbollah, is involved in countless murders and torture in the style of ISIS.

Tülin Osmanoğulları said: "The government is trying to blame its own defeat on society. It appointed a trustee for Hakkari (Colemêrg) and passed a law on the killing of stray animals. Now, in a country where violence against women and sexual violence against children have increased significantly, it has published a perspective paper and an 'action plan for protecting and strengthening the family'. It wants to open religious counseling centers and offer religious and spiritual counseling to families. In this way, the absolute power of men in the family is to be emphasized with reference to religious sources. The idea is to convey that it is wrong to defend yourself against men and their violence."

"There is no longer a family to strengthen"

Osmanoğulları continued: "Women are mostly killed as a result of the government's family policy by men from whom they want to divorce or separate. The men who have been given uncontrolled power are now not only killing women, but even their own children. In other words, there is no longer a family to strengthen. Family-oriented policies or religiously oriented counseling centers do not solve the problem, but only lead to an increase in murders, violence against women and sexualized violence against children. We can see this very clearly in the results of our monthly surveys. The government's policy has become a very serious social problem. We do not accept this policy. We do not give up our rights, freedom and equality. We will continue our fight until Law No. 6284, which is intended to protect women, is effectively implemented."

Law No. 6284 regulates the protection of women and the punishment of perpetrators, including a restraining order for perpetrators of violence and protective measures for victims. It defines measures ranging from material support to a new identity for women. The AKP and its coalition partners have repeatedly brought up the abolition of this law.

"It's about messing up society"

Rojbin Bor, an activist with the women's movement TJA, pointed out that the expansion of "religious and spiritual counseling services" for families aims to shape society on the basis of certain religious and cultural values ​​and to increasingly weaken its pluralistic structure.

Bor said: "This practice will lead to a Sharia mentality like in Iran, where the murder of women is justified just because a strand of hair is visible. We are aware that such action plans are nothing more than the preparation of a Sharia regime. An attempt is being made to prepare women for a new Sharia system and to convince them of it. By instrumentalizing religion, society has already been convinced of hunger, poverty, deprivation, misery and even death. Not only that, Turkey, which ranks last in the world in terms of women's rights, has, instead of protecting women's right to life, focused over the last ten years on creating a submissive, accepting woman who obeys men and destroying those who do not fit this definition as witches."

"Hate crimes and pogroms are being fomented"

Bor continued: "There are millions of people of other religions and denominations in this country. This situation will lead to inequality and discrimination against people of different faiths and cause social unrest. This in turn will lead to hate crimes and pogroms, of which there have already been examples in the past, being fomented again by the government. Social peace will continue to deteriorate as the conflict between secular and religious values ​​intensifies. In order to preserve a secular and pluralistic social structure, one must therefore be vigilant and oppose such policies. It is important that women's rights activists, civil society organizations and all relevant groups take an active role in promoting gender equality and human rights. If such policies are implemented, measures must be taken to protect gender equality and women's rights. Such policies must be carefully evaluated to ensure that they do not harm social peace."

Source: Yeni Özgur Politika