2012: Call for a Meeting
We are gathering at SFK at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 29, to organise the tenth March 8 Feminist Night March together.
We held the first March 8 night march in Istanbul in 2003. Its theme was war and occupation. At that march we said, “All those who wage wars and decide to go to war are men. Is that a coincidence?” We walked from Taksim Square to Mis Sokak.
In 2003, we addressed our call to women without emphasising that those issuing it were feminists. In 2004, we marched in the same place with a call signed by feminists. The theme was femicide, and our banner read: “Men kill, the state protects them. We want shelters, not graves.”
In 2005, we marched from Galatasaray towards Taksim, carrying the banner “We do not obey the male-dominated order”.
In 2006, we marched under the banner “Feminist rebellion”; in 2007, “Feminist struggle against patriarchy”.
In 2008 and 2009, the banner at the front of the march read “Feminist struggle against militarism, capitalism, nationalism and patriarchy”.
In 2010, we said “Feminist struggle and feminist solidarity against the male-dominated order”; in 2011, “Feminist revolt”.
In 2003, we were around a hundred women. In 2011, thousands of us cried out on İstiklal Street: “We revolt against femicide.”
In 2012, as we move beyond the thirtieth year of the feminist movement in Turkey, we hope our March 8 Night March will be even more spirited and more numerous. Sadly, 2011 was once again a year of harassment, rape and femicide. Talk of the family rather than women proliferated. Our unpaid domestic labor still goes unrecognised!
2011 was also another year of feminist struggle. We made our voices heard. We took steps towards changing our lives.
We have much to say on March 8, 2012.
We are meeting on Wednesday, February 29, to organise this year’s Feminist Night March, which will go from Galatasaray towards Taksim.
With love,
Istanbul Feminist Collective
Email sent by: Filiz Karakuş
Source: cinayetlereisyandayiz@googlegroups.com, feministler@yahoogroups.com