After academic Sözer’s feminicide: ‘Let’s end violence together’

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"After Aylin Sözer was deprived of her right to life, everyone had different feelings. In addition to the feelings felt after all losses, we were also driven to feelings of anger and sorrow in the face of all those unjust writings, mediatic statements reproducing violence and male violence getting so close to our lives; right after this, we had the feeling of 'We need to do something'."

This was how "Let's End Violence Platform" was established around the İstanbul Aydın University's Women's Studies Coordination Office after academic Aylin Sözer's feminicide last year.

The platform first opened a website as part of the project. This website now aims to publish its content in English as well so that international students, migrants and refugees can also benefit from it.

A man named Kemal D. killed Dr. Lecturer Aylin Sözer, an academic from the İstanbul Aydın University's Department of Early Childhood Education, in her house in İstanbul on December 29, 2020.

Women's Studies Coordinator and Advisor to the Women's Studies Student Club Dr. Lecturer Cemre Erciyes, also a member of the team who took action after Sözer's passing, has spoken to bianet about the platform, which they founded with the aim of raising awareness about male violence as well as all types of violence that we encounter in our daily lives.

'A more systematic form of violence'

When we ask Erciyes whether she thought that one of her colleagues might also lose her life due to male violence one day, she says:

"Violence is prevalent in all areas of our lives, it manifests itself in different forms every day. Our families, immediate circle and colleagues are not excluded from this. In fact, we cannot be excluded from this, either. Male violence, as a more systematic and established form of violence, is based on the gender inequality that exists at the heart of our social order.

"Therefore, it is not something that we think will not happen to us. It is an issue about which we wage a struggle, try to raise awareness and make a difference every day so that it will not happen to anyone. It is an issue about which all of us, I mean, students, academics, executives, policy-makers need to talk, raise awareness and take action to make a difference in society."

Realization of 'violence is not that far'

Cemre Erciyes explains how the students have been affected by academic Aylin Sözer's passing in following words:

"In fact, several students see news about violence against women, harassment and rape of women in the media in their daily lives. Some of them observe this in their immediate circles or they are themselves subjected to violence, they think that it is something peculiar to them.

"However, it was shocking that their gleeful professor who gave them a class the day before was deprived of her right to life the next day. In that process where anger and demands for struggle were very marked, those who did not experience violence in their lives realized that violence was not that far and the idea of 'We need to do something' came to the fore."

A platform against violence and discrimination

Erciyes also shares information and details about the establishment and works of the "Let's End Violence Together Platform."

She says that they first decided to set up a voluntary working group who could support the works about violence. Then, in a meeting attended by around 80 voluntary academic and administrative personnel, they agreed to establish the "Let's End Violence Together Platform."

As part of this project, the volunteers set out to undertake studies and works that would be based on science, but would reach wider masses.

Erciyes notes that "Let's End Violence Together Platform" aims to be an effective, participatory, transparent and multidisciplinary platform which develops proactive policies and strategies to prevent discrimination and violence against all living beings, primarily against women.

Projects and workshops

Talking about the projects planned by the platform, Cemre Erciyes first mentions the "Nonviolence Project", which they have designed for 2021. The project aims to raise awareness with a focus on nonviolence and from a scientific and multidisciplinary perspective.

According to Erciyes, while voluntary academics are now mostly engaged in the platform's works, they are also planning to increase the participation and contribution of students, alumni and outside stakeholders.

Referring to siddetibirliktebitirelim.org website, which has the same name with the platform, Erciyes says that they aim to publish English content so that the website can also reach out to international students, migrants and refugees who live in Turkey, but cannot speak Turkish.

Sharing details about the works to be undertaken by the Workshop and Awareness Team, Social Media Team and Web Design Team of the platform, Erciyes notes that the voluntary academics in the language team are now also translating the related content into English.

While the platform will also hold a competition to design a logo for the website and social media accounts, it is now also organizing workshops on a series of issues such as "language of communication without violence", "concept of gender" and "dating violence."

Withdrawal from İstanbul Convention

Noting that the ones who want to get in contact with the platform can do so by filling out the contact form on the website, Cemre Erciyes also answers our question about Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention by a Presidential decision in mid-March. She briefly says:

"The termination of the İstanbul Convention is a highly controversial issue. International conventions grant rights that are above the inequalities in law. Our Law Team has compiled our all law articles related to violence against women under Legal Framework on our website.

"From now on, it is our responsibility to know our rights in our laws, to not lose these laws and to ensure that the inequalities will be eliminated by developing social policies, if there are still any.

"However, the most important of all is to ensure that the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women is enforced. Because it plays an important role in protecting the woman and child from violence as well as everyone subjected to violence."

About Aylin Sözer

Academic Aylin Sözer graduated from the Preschool Teaching Department of Marmara University. She did her Master's degree in the same department in 2005. She also completed her PhD studies there.

She was mostly writing about the education of mathematics. Her last book "Mathematics Education in Early Childhood Period" was published by Nobel Akademik Publishing. She was born in 1972.

A man named Kemal D. killed Dr. Lecturer Aylin Sözer from the İstanbul Aydın University's Department of Early Childhood Education in her house in İstanbul on December 29, 2020. (EMK/SD)