Women Take It to Street to Shout ‘Our Life is Ours’

Click to read the article in Kurdish / Turkish

Immediate Prevention Group Against Femicide will hold simultaneous protests in many cities against the report of the Assembly Divorce Commission.

Women saying “Announced to those deciding on our behalf: Our life is ours, we don’t recognize the report of the divorce commission!” will take it to the street in Adana, Ankara, Antalya, İzmir, Antep, Antakya, Artvin, Ayvalık, Bodrum, Bursa, Erzincan, Kocaeli, Mersin, Sinop. Samsun, Denizli, Çanakkale and many other provinces.

What had happened?

“Parliamentary Research Commission Formed On Purpose of Researching Elements Affecting Family Integrity Negatively and Divorce Cases and Detecting Required Measures to be Taken to Strengthen Family Institution” established in January was announced with the name “Ensuring Family Integrity” by the AKP.

The commission after operating for three months had released a report of 479 pages and many suggestions in the report had drawn reaction from women right defenders.

The amendments required in the Act of Preventing Violence were listed as follows by the group EŞİTİZ (We are equal):

- Children to be married off to their abusers/rapists; promoting juvenile marriage

- Divorce and violence against women are trying to be moved out of state’s responsibility area by being considered as “private sphere”

- Eunuch to be executed

- Implementing mediation and reconciliation in both applications of violence and divorce cases

- Preventing women’s who were subjected to violence going to the police in the working hours

- Holding all trials as to the family law in confidentiality

- Making divorce more difficult

- Trying to rest psychological counsel and consultance service on religious base. (EH/ÇT/TK)