Police Violence At The Exhibition For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women

The exhibition of the November 25 Women’s  Platform planned to last five hours ended due to the police intervention.

The platform was organized for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and was reported to the Beyoğlu Police Department, as it was to be held in front of the Galatasaray High School in Beyoğlu.

However, about twenty police officers dispersed the boards used for the exhibition, using physical violence in the process, on the grounds that it was an “unauthorized activity”, despite the laws said otherwise.

The women are protesting the situation with a sit-in.

The women remind that the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was declared after the Mirabel sisters who were fighting against the Trujillo dictatorship of the Dominican Republican in the Latin America in the 1960s were raped by the security forces and they point out to the contradiction that their November 25 exhibition was attacked by the male police officers of the state.

What was there at the exhibition the police dispersed?

The women exhibited material such as a gun, a belt, a screwdriver, a fork, a kettle, a knife, a jar filled with excrement, a cellular phone, a virginity belt and a pair of tongs, as symbolizing the male violence.

On the board titled “It is enough to be a woman in order to be killed” were written the names of those women killed.

In the stands were hung the photographs depicting the violence against women. Approximately an hour after the exhibition was set up, the police interfered.

We asked those who were strolling on the Istiklal Street, where the exhibition was, what they had thought about the exhibition.

The man watching the exhibition: “I am happy I am not a woman”

Electrician Oğuzhan Sanır said he was hapy he was not a woman.

“It was the first time I experienced such a scream. I realized that my perspective was one-sided. Nobody can say the women are not beaten in this land. I at least know that from now on, I will be condemning the men who brag about violence they use against women.”

“I beat up my wife for having no money”

67 year old Hüseyin Gülen says he worked in Germany as a worker and he is retired now. He said he did use violence and treated badly his wife who died five years ago.

“We were five people in one room. There was no job and no money. I would get angry and beat my wife. All because I was poor. Then I went to Germany. I later brought my wife, too. I never beat her up there. Anyways, it is different times now. In our time it was the tradition. If it is done now, they will leave the house.

The women will march in the evening

Engineer Aysel Kara and his brother student Mustafa Kara were not aware of such a day about the women.

Two siblings could not agree with each other. While Mustafa Kara said the reason for the violence against women was lack of education, Aysel Kara thought the educated men resorted to violence as well.

However, they both agreed on one point:

“An economically independent woman can always leave her husband, but what about the poor woman? Therefore, the state has to increase the number of the women’s shelter and must not turn down anyone. But we are not sure if the state will be on the side of the women.”

The women were planning to organize a march at 19.00 this evening. (EZÖ/TB)