Mor Çatı announces final declaration of its workshop attended by 130 women

Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation (Turkish: Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfı) has announced the final declaration of the “Workshop on Combating Violence Against Women While Losing Rights”.



 

News Center - Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation (Turkish: Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfı) held a virtual workshop “On Combating Violence Against Women While Losing Rights” on April 17. The foundation has announced the final declaration of the workshop attended by 130 women, including representatives of women's organizations, feminist platforms, and municipalities. The women discussed many issues such as the transformation in anti-violence mechanisms and women's policies of the AKP government.

“Social services have lost their characteristics day by day”

The final declaration of the workshop says, “The state hasn’t fulfilled its obligations for combating violence against women since the Istanbul Convention was signed. We observe less and less the legal gains we have achieved in the fight against male violence in practice. As the government gains more power, it gives priority to implement family-based policies. We observe that the government produces its political discourse according to these policies step by step. In the past, we gained many rights in practice even if they were not protected by laws and these achievements became ground for creating Law No 6284. But nowadays, good practices are gradually decreasing.”

“The municipal mechanisms for combating violence against women were abolished after the appointment of trustees”

The declaration underlines that municipal mechanisms fighting violence against women were abolished, “Even if the municipalities found a support system for violence against women, there is a serious problem in practice. We observe that the steps taken to combat violence against women are not sustainable when the mayors have been changed. We observe that the municipal mechanisms for combating violence against women were abolished after the appointment of trustees (state-appointed mayors) disregarding the experiences. The municipalities should focus on combating violence against women in order to prevent violence and supporting female victims of violence to rebuild their lives.”