We Women Will Be in Taksim, Istanbul, on March 8!
Every March 8 for 11 years, we women of Turkey have held a march. We voice our struggle against patriarchy, male violence, sexism, heterosexism, capitalism, militarism and war.
Since March 8 last year, we have lived through another year in which attacks on women have persisted.
Every day we read in the newspapers about the death of another woman. In Turkey, three women die each day as victims of violence against women. Murderers and rapists face no prosecution.
The government is more interested in trying to prevent divorces than in preventing any form of violence against women.
The AKP, which acts as if it were the government, legislature and judiciary all at once, has stolen our right to abortion, and now we are turned away when we arrive at hospital doors asking for help.
Access to contraception has been significantly restricted. The government creates every possible kind of law to control women’s bodies while preparing others that force us into working lives without any form of social security.
Centers offering women shelter and counseling are so inadequate in Turkey that their service is merely symbolic. The Ministry for Women, now turned into the Ministry of Family and Public Policies, is transforming women’s shelters into centers that protect the family and force women to live within the family even when their lives are in danger.
We women were also on the streets during the Gezi Resistance, resisting the government’s sexist policies. We were direct victims of police violence and abuse.
Women were also victims of police violence on March 8, 2005, in Beyazıt, Istanbul.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled against the government of Turkey over this violent police attack.
Taksim, where we women have always resisted, saying “We do not abandon the streets or the squares at night!” despite continuing police pressure and violence, is now under police blockade. On the street where we have always demonstrated for women’s freedom before the eyes of the world for 11 years, we now face the danger of becoming victims of police violence, abuse and tear gas.
As the pressure on us continues to grow: we do not give up!
And as we have always done for 11 years, this year too we will hold our feminist march on March 8 in Taksim.
The AKP government, which attacks every area of our lives, now also wants to steal the road on which we march. Even if they do not allow us, we will meet in Taksim again and speak out about our situation.
We call on all women around the world to support us and offer their solidarity in our struggle for women’s freedom. Even if you are not in Taksim, stay alert in case the police attack us that day. Together we will overcome the police barricade in Taksim.
Let the father come, let the husband come, let the police come, let the stick come!
We persist in revolt, we persist in revolt, we persist in freedom!
Istanbul Feminist Collective