‘The real murderers are the state and judiciary that cannot protect women’

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The Dikili Women's Platform based in Turkey's Aegean province of İzmir protested male violence against women yesterday (December 30).

The platform underlined that four women were killed by men in Turkey in a single day (December 29). Raising concerns over the policies of impunity and İstanbul Convention in the country, the platform said, "Policies of impunity are in effect and İstanbul Convention is not implemented; women pay the price for this with their lives."

The statement of the platform briefly read as follows:

'Women pay the price with their lives'

"The more women struggle for an equal, free and fair life, the more organized the male-dominant systems' attacks get.

"While we wake up with an increasing number of feminicides news everyday, the male state that encourages men is still discussing the withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention, let alone enforcing the İstanbul Convention. Policies of impunity are in effect and İstanbul Convention is not implemented; women pay the price for this with their lives.

"Four women were massacred only yesterday. Aylin Sözer, who was massacred and burned by a man named Kemal Delbe in her own house in Maltepe; Selda Taş, who was shot to death by Mehmet Taş, the man whom she was married to, in Malatya; Vesile Dönmez, who was shot to death by her son in Antep; Betül Tuğluk, who was killed by her son in İzmir.

'The real murderers are state and judiciary'

"While murderers sometimes have the title of father, sometimes that of the son and sometimes ex-boyfriend, we know very well that the real murderers are the state and judiciary that cannot protect women.

"In the face of the palaces that cannot secure justice, the flames of revolt will keep on burning from Argentina to Poland, from Turkey to Mexico.

"We once again call on to the male-dominated system and its entire apparatus that keep on attacking our gains: We know the murderers. We will keep struggling for our rights and lives at the squares.

'Why doesn't the state implement the convention?'

"We see that the male mindset and sexism are fostered by current policies, thereby encouraging feminicides and rendering the culture of harassment and rape more widespread. Unafraid of the judiciary and its penal system, men do not refrain from massacring women with individual armament.

"In this country, women are killed; in this country, women seek justice on social media so that the murderers of women and perpetrators of violence are sent to prison; in this country, women wage a struggle everyday to survive and to keep alive.

"But, why does the state, which boasts about being its first signatory, not implement the İstanbul Convention effectively? How can you possibly eliminate women's life safety by giving up on the convention that you are obligated to put into effect?

"Stop manipulating violence against women with numerical data, stop assigning roles to women in the name of 'family order', stop provoking and siding with men. Fulfill your responsibilities by effectively enforcing the Law 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women and the İstanbul Convention, which is what you are obligated to do.

"Because women won't give up. They will keep on struggling at home, on the street, in the factory, shopping mall, school; they will keep on struggling in every field of life to live and keep alive and to not lose one more woman." (EKN/SD)