Murder and Assault that Brought Women in Turkey to the Streets

This is the voice of the people of Turkey protesting against violence against women. Protests escalated after the charred body of Özgecan Aslan, a young Turkish woman, was discovered by the police. She was murdered after resisting an assailant and was set on fire. Following the news of Özgecan's murder, widespread marches took place across Turkey, and government officials reacted to this killing. Turkish women took the rare step of ensuring that Özgecan's coffin was not carried by men, and despite the imam's insistence that men should carry the coffin, women themselves shouldered it. This week, Dilara Gursoo, a feminist activist from Turkey currently in Paris, is our guest. Dilara, tell us what the latest news is regarding Özgecan's case in Turkey? Most news focuses on Özgecan Aslan's murder and public reactions to it. So far, three men have been arrested on charges of involvement in the murder, and while one lawyer has volunteered to represent them, many Turkish lawyers have refused to take their case. The district attorney has also called for the maximum penalty for the crime. We are currently waiting to see how the trial proceeds. Meanwhile, after Özgecan's murder, four women have been killed by their current or former partners in Turkey. In less than two months since the beginning of 2015, 41 women have been murdered by men in Turkey. Unfortunately, the Justice and Development Party government is currently discussing the death penalty and even castration for men who commit rape, while I believe this is not a feminist demand in Turkey. We want these men to be sentenced to life imprisonment without any leniency. Many men have been able to receive legal leniency after committing violence against women. A man whose girlfriend was on birth control received a reduced sentence for killing her. Another man was exempt from the maximum penalty for killing his wife because she wore thin tights, and another man who wore a tie in court received a reduced sentence because of his attire. I can give you dozens of examples of such leniencies. Is the murder of women in Turkey a widespread crime? Yes, it is a very common crime. As I said, men abuse women daily in Turkey. Rape is very common, yet many victims do not report their assailants due to shame from being assaulted. Women feel they have lost their dignity and thus feel embarrassed. Young girls aged twelve to thirteen are sold for dowries and are raped every night by their 50-year-old husbands. This issue is not just about one man's rape of a woman; it is about a man violating a woman he considers part of his property. Given all this, why have Turkish women reacted to this issue now? This is a question I have often asked myself since the beginning of the feminist wave in Turkey. I believe Özgecan's murder was the last straw for women. I think people reacted because each of them could have been in that young girl's place. Özgecan was a young woman from the Turkish middle class who was attacked and sexually assaulted while using public transportation. Therefore, many women can think that this could happen to them and empathize with her. On the other hand, the manner of this crime drew significant attention. The man attacked Özgecan with the intent to rape her, and when he faced her resistance, he stabbed her and then killed her with a crowbar. To eliminate the DNA evidence left on Özgecan's hands, they cut off her hands and then set her body on fire. This level of violence is intolerable. Official media initially did not cover the murder, and after the news spread on social media, they also reported on it. Thus, more people became aware of what had happened. In recent months, President Erdoğan has made comments about gender inequality that have provoked various reactions in Turkish society. Did Erdoğan's remarks play a role in such an event? I do not see a direct connection between Erdoğan's comments and Özgecan's murder; however, I believe there is an indirect connection. People, especially in Turkey, pay attention to the words and actions of politicians. When Erdoğan, as the leader of the country, speaks about women's rights in Turkey, people listen to the important words of an important figure. If he says, 'Women and men are not equal,' people will say, 'This is exactly what I have been thinking.' After Özgecan's murder, Erdoğan stated in a speech: 'Women are a trust from God, and men must protect them.' This is not a proper way to address the current situation of women. He again positioned women as 'second-class' and in need of protection. He also attacked feminists in his speech, saying, 'Feminists cannot fight against Islam.' The worst thing a president can do after a crime against a woman is to target feminists. Because such crimes will never stop without feminist ideas. And how long will Turkish feminists continue their protests in the streets? Currently, the group 'We Stop Gender-Based Killings' is leading the protests against this crime. They do not identify themselves as feminists and are trying to hold the government accountable to stop it. They are asking politicians to prevent these crimes and change the laws. Feminist groups also view this issue from different perspectives. I am part of a group of feminists who consider the patriarchy of Turkish society to be the cause of this violence. We support the group 'We Stop Gender-Based Killings,' but after their work is done, we will continue our efforts to fight against patriarchy and misogyny. Almost every day, the streets of Turkey witness women protesting against violence towards women. More and more women are joining collective efforts against this violence and joining women's NGOs. Workshops are ongoing, and endless discussions about how to end this violence continue. Currently, the ban on violence against women is an important issue that is expanding everywhere, and I hope this movement never stops. However, in the neighboring country of Turkey, in Iran, it has been months since acid attacks on women and girls in Isfahan occurred, yet there has been no news of the cases published, nor has anyone been arrested for the acid attacks. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and human rights activist who has participated in protests against acid attacks, and Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women's rights activist residing in New York, are this week's guests on another voice. Ms. Sotoudeh, why did women's protests over a civil issue that directly related to their safety stop and not continue? Nasrin Sotoudeh: If you ask civil activists in Iran why they do not persist and expand their civil demands, they will tell you that they are immediately faced with repression. I understand this. Let's go back to when the issue of acid attacks in Iran was raised. A few men in Isfahan and Tehran had the courage to come out into the streets and express their protest against this horrific and widespread crime. Many of them were arrested, and I was one of those arrested. But keep in mind that in all societies, costs have been paid to achieve civil demands, and often much more than just arrests. Imprisonment, long-term detentions, or even torture or insult; all of these have been common. When such repressions occur, the reaction of some individuals who are aligned with civil society leads to despair and discouragement. I do not find any of this justifiable. Rather, I draw public attention to the fact that in a civil movement, the reaction from governments and authorities is a normal occurrence. Civil resistance determines the weight of the government's reaction and forces it to retreat. Additionally, creating despair and discouragement among allies, the loss of forces among those who have chosen this movement is again a predictable behavior that is not very unexpected. Therefore, I think a society must have reached the necessity of civil movement to overcome the problems arising from it. Ms. Abbasgholizadeh, from your perspective as an observer of women's activities inside Iran from abroad, why did these protests not continue? Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh: What I see from here is that something significant is happening inside Iran regarding women activists, and that is that they are moving from a period that was only about legal discussions and only about women's major demands and clashing with the legal system in Iran, to a period where economic issues are being raised, where women in marginal situations are being discussed, and where ethnic and religious minorities are being addressed. All of this has led to a transitional period among women’s movement activists in Iran. Especially since many of those who played a role in the previous wave of the women's movement are no longer present in Iran. A new wave of a younger generation has entered this field, and they are all fresh and are essentially feminists who do not even connect with the meetings or discussions of the older women's groups, which we can now call 'mainstream' women's groups. I think there are strong signs of shedding old skin in various sectors. Now, women's groups in different provinces and small towns are working very hard. Perhaps the problem is that the public space is not open enough for people to sit down and discuss with each other, or that the discourse has not opened up enough for them to want to openly discuss their issues face to face. Because they have suffered a lot from the previous period.