Freedom from Violence Anonymous

On December 3, 2019, a 20-year-old ballerina was murdered in front of her house. In 2019, more than 400 women were murdered in Turkey even though some of them requested an order of protection. When I heard the news, I was devastated. I was scared, sad, and extremely angry at the same time. I was afraid, because I am also a woman who lives in Turkey and this could happen to me, my relatives or any other women. Nevertheless, we women continue to go out and go to work every day as if there is no danger. In a way, we challenge this brutality in our own way, but the authorities still remain silent.

These incidents are not new in Turkey. On the contrary, it has been a problem for years. Despite the increasing rate of murders, violence against women is still on TV. In a single episode of a regular series, it is calculated that there are 20 minutes of physical and 40 minutes of psychological violence against women. It is not surprising that femicide rates increase when violence is normalized on television, while the act of holding hands is censored.

I hope that one day the people of my country will become educated enough to value the rights of women and that the perpetrators of violence against women will be punished accordingly.