Melike Aydın

 

IZMIR - The struggle against the besieging of women by methods such as assimilation, unemployment and prostitution continues. One of the members of the Özgür Young Women, Gamze Toprak, who pointed to an attitude towards young women as a policy, gave the message, ‘’If we women want to be liberated, we will stand up against fascism and raise the voice of the revolt in the street’’.

 

Both in Turkey and in the cities of the region, male-state violence mostly targets women, children and youth. As violence increases, so does the struggle against it. The campaign launched by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Youth Council against addiction and prostitution with the slogan ‘’Let’’s break the addiction, let’s build a new life’’ in September, aims to raise awareness against male-state violence. We asked those who struggle in this field about the experiences of young women who face many problems such as disidentification, assimilation, unemployment, prostitution and drug use.

 

‘The way to get rid of violence is seen as marriage’

 

HDP Young Women’s Council member Hanife Çaçan stated that Kurdish young women living in metropolises are exposed to assimilation as well as male oppression, and stated that young women should be aware of the mentality that causes violence. Underlining that men should also be aware of gender discrimination, Hanife said, ‘’When faced with pressure and violence from their fathers and brothers, young women see marriage as an escape. However, they are seen as objects by the man they marry. She does not see that her freedom will be restricted. She sees what her spouse is doing at a lower level because she is exposed to violence from the family’’.

 

‘Woman fleeing from family pressure faces with male-state violence’

 

Hanife, who defines the family as a ‘’minimised one of the state’’, said, ‘’When a woman can leave the family, she faces the pressure and tyranny of the state outside. While they aspire the freedom of men, they become devoted to the freedom of men. The state oppresses women with prostitution, oppression, unemployment and drugs. The state turns a blind eye to these, allows these and takes away the freedom of women’’.

 

Campaign against drugs and prostitution

 

Hanife mentioned that young women are encouraged to a world that has no connection with reality through televisions and serial platforms, and said, ‘’They fall into many traps such as drugs, prostitution, bullying and oppression. That’s why we want to show all young women that this world is not real. Our campaign ‘’Let’s break the addiction to drugs and build a new life’’ continues. I call out to all young women: Together we can draw a path’’.

 

‘Acceptable femaleness is imposed on women’

 

Stating that the ‘’Sunni Islamist and male’’ stance of the male-dominated state imposes ‘’acceptable femaleness’’ on young women, Campus Witches Center Coordination Member Berfin Büyükertaş stated that young women and Campus Witches are struggling with women’s universities, one of the projects in which this imposition takes shape. Berfin said, ‘’The partisan media is making news as a women’s university. They allocated a building in Bahçeşehir. Professional institution that teaches how to serve her spouse at home. It is included in the 2022 education planning. We are going out to the streets to show that we will not be anyone’s acceptable woman or acceptable daughter. Just as they abolished the Istanbul Convention, they can open the university overnight. It will treat LGBTI+s as a disease. We can understand that this is the last move of othering policies.’’

 

Harasser teachers, education approach that excludes women

 

Pointing out that trustee rectors in universities aim to narrow the field of women students, Berfin said that there are also discriminatory approaches in the academic field. Berfin emphasized that the Commission to Prevent Sexual Harassment (CITOK) does not exist in every university and that it has been made nonfunctional in the universities that exist, and said, ‘’The first act of trustee rector Melih Bulu was to close the LGBTI+ Club. CITOK Coordinator was fired. In online trainings, it was revealed that the teachers such as Celal Şengör and İlber Ortaylı were harasser. Of course, women are uncomfortable with these teachers’’. 

 

‘Women are deceived by job adverts’

 

Stating that women students’, who cannot make a living, labour are exploited in cafes for 7-8 liras an hour, and that they become unemployed after graduation, Berfin said that women students are driven into prostitution. Stating that women are tried to be deceived with job advertisements such as ‘’150 liras per hour’’ at the bus stops in the districts where students are densely populated, Berfin said, ‘’We also see that women can choose these methods without knowing it. We see that the women body has become objectified’’.

 

‘Women do not expect justice from the state’

 

Expressing that the silence of the judiciary against the harassment and rape of young women, sexist education in educational institutions, and the arrest of women who fighting on the streets are a result of the male-dominated ideology, Özgür Young Women member Gamze Toprak said, ‘’There is only one thing left for us under all this clamp. We should say to the male-dominated ideology, ‘You are trying to oppress us, and we do not recognize your laws’. Today, I do not think that women expect justice from the state or the judiciary. One of the most important dynamics standing against the state is young women. This is the reason why they are so targeted and exposed to ideological attacks’’.

 

‘Women who want to be liberated will stand against fascism’

 

Gamze continued her words as follows, ‘’Young women have been trying to cope with hopelessness and lack of future for many years. Against this, there is the women’s movement as a power. On March 8 and November 25, thousands of women took to the streets. A woman is killed, women exist on the street with their solidarity. Women stand against this power. The state will come against us with all its institutions. The more young women increase their struggle to exist both at school and at home, the more they will become a party. If we women want to be liberated, we will stand up against fascism and raise the voice of the revolt in the street’’.