Women's Shelters - Room for Improvement

Yılmaz from KA-MER explains the incident in Malatya, where a young woman was kidnapped from the women's shelter by her family: "This was not a first. Insufficiency related to funding and staff create problems in terms of security and shelter conditions".

Burçin Belge

"Security is a serious problem with women's shelters. Only very few municipalities fulfil their responsibility related to opening a women's shelter when they received the according duty by law. The locations of some women's shelters are known by all citizens. In Muş, there is even a sign directing the way to the local women's shelter".

This information was taken from the Inter-institutional Cooperation Evaluation Report of the Campaign for Freedom to End Domestic Violence. Nilüfer Yılmaz from the Diyabakır KA-MER, a Turkish women's group that finds shelter for and offers legal aid to women who have been threatened by their relatives, supports these findings:

"Institutions that worked together with the Social Services and Child Protection Institution (SHÇEK) gave the addresses of the women to the persons who treated them violently. The people staying in the women's shelter and also the personnel working there are being put on risk if adequate security measures are not being taken".

There are a total of 41women's shelters in Turkey belonging to SHÇEK, municipalities and non-governmental organizations. Yılmaz also draws attention to the difficulties regarding the operation of shelters.

A young woman was kidnapped from a women's shelter in Malatya (south-eastern Turkey) by family members who invaded the shelter and spayed tear gas. Yılmaz emphasizes that this incident was not a first. "We also know about incidents when SHÇEK personnel called the family and they reconciled with the woman".

According to Yılmaz, first of all measures for the confidentiality and the security of the women's shelters must be taken. And it is even more important that the personnel working in women's shelters and organizations cooperating with them are trained.

"A women's shelter is not a prison"

Yılmaz argues, "A women's shelter is not a prison. It is maybe the most important function of the women's shelters to treat traumas of women who fled because of violence, provide rehabilitation and conditions to prepare for a new life.

However, the insufficiency of funding and training of the staff is an important obstacle. The Report of the Campaign for Freedom to End Domestic Violence mentions the following difficulties:

- The number of social service experts, psychologists, psychological councillors and experts for child development and education is insufficient.

- The women staying in shelters do not receive any monetary support. Efforts to establish a new life and expenditures related to children are being disregarded. The women cannot access adequate education to learn a profession.

- The duration of stay in a women's shelter varies between three and six months by law. Because of the high demand, women who have to fear for their lives have to leave the shelter after three months.

- The rehabilitation work done during the victim's stay in the women's shelter is not enough. The victim cannot establish a new life both in psychological and economic terms. The women return to their violent environment upon the termination of the duration of stay.

Under these circumstances, the women's shelters become mere shelters instead of preparing the women for a new life. Yılmaz is hopeful though:

"Significant improvements can be achieved when the Governorship Human Rights Provincial Councils are open to cooperation. We visit SHÇEK and the Governorship in Diyabakır in regular intervals and inform them about insufficiencies. However, a penetration of official politics with the issues of violence against women and gender equality is crucial for finding well-established solutions". (BB/VK)