2010 Press Statement
On the 100th anniversary of March 8 we say “Long Live Our Feminist Struggle and Our Feminist Solidarity!” We are still on the streets.
We never sever the connection between our sisters who died in a textile factory in New York 100 years ago and the women killed at Özay and Pameks; despite low wages, threats of dismissal and socially insecure laws that condemn us to dependence on men, we say “Our labor is ours!” We do these endless tasks such as cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, ironing, cleaning, caring for children and sick older people merely to feed ourselves. As we care for the world, feed it and clean it, the labor we expend for subsistence is not seen; moreover, we are exploited. We become more dependent on men, the family and the home. Women, onto the streets to be free; men, work at home!
In 2010, on the 100th anniversary of March 8, three women are still murdered every day in Turkey.
We will raise our voices in Taksim against the massacres of women. While we faced violence from those close to us in homes called “Our Nest”, we were also in court against men who wanted to kill our sisters with various excuses such as “I loved her so much”.
Against the judiciary that supports male killers with excuses such as “he was provoked”, we say “The killing of women is political!”
Against harassment and rape, we will not leave the streets. When they harass us, we will not be ashamed and we will cry out! We will stick our purple pins into them!
On the 100th anniversary of March 8, in 2010, we are in Taksim for murdered women, where nights and streets have become threats to women.
Over the past year three women were killed every day! The aim of men who commit crimes and men who protect criminals is one and the same! To preserve their power over women.
We Have NOT FORGOTTEN Münevver, Güldünya, Ayşe and Pippa!
We are deprived of institutions and organisations where we can take refuge and seek advice against men’s violence.
Municipalities that do not open shelters for women give millions of dollars in assistance to Capital of Culture projects and govern the city with budgets that disregard women.
During your government, 953 women were murdered in the first nine months of 2009.
If shelters are not built now, when will they be built?
We oppose militarism for freedom and peace; we oppose militarist power centres that regard opponents as internal enemies!
We reject the values of patriotism and nationalism in which dying and killing are sanctified.
Against the detention and imprisonment of Kurdish women resembling lynchings and coups, we say “Long live women’s solidarity, collective struggle and peace!”
From Berçelan to Taksim, from Kadıköy to Esenyurt, we continue our insistence on peace.
In Taksim, on the 100th anniversary of March 8, in 2010, we oppose homophobic anxieties and discriminatory and exclusionary practices against homosexuals, wherever and from whomever they come.
We are here to say “Take your hands off my body!”
The length of our skirts is not an invitation to men.
We dress as we please and walk on the streets at night as we please.
Our bodies belong neither to FATHERS, husbands, the state nor any other heavenly authority.
For a world in which we are not oppressed or exploited, and can say our bodies, identities and labor are ours.
Against the male-dominated order,
Long live our feminist struggle!
Long live our feminist solidarity!
Feminist Collective