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DP: Date Published: 24.09.2019 13:30 24 September 2019 13:30

~ MO: Modified On: 24.09.2019 16:49 24 September 2019 16:49

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'I am Domestic Worker Rukiye Şimşek, I Died by Falling from the Window'

After the efforts of the İmece Domestic Workers Union, the woman and her husband who are responsible for my death have been given a sentence and this set a precedent.

Evrim Kepenek

'I am Domestic Worker Rukiye Şimşek, I Died by Falling from the Window'

Click to read the article in Turkish

My name is Rukiye Şimşek. On Sunday, October 27, 2013, I left my house as I had been doing for two years and went to Bostancı. I will clean the house of Merve and Hakan Gürler on the fourth floor. I left my two kids at home. I will also take care of Merve and Hakan's children.

It's raining in Istanbul. I started domestic work because I want to have a house of our own in Fındıklı. I will pay the installments of the house with the fee I receive here.

Merve and Hakan are waiting for me. As usual, works have accumulated. I'm going to the kitchen window to wipe it. I fell through the window on the fourth floor.

There is nothing after that. I lost my life.

After my death, what domestic workers experience when working was brought to courts.

"I can't go down. Come and take your wife to the hospital"

My husband Bahri Şimşek tells what happened then in Sinem Atakul's documentary titled, "Wound of Pride" (Gurur Yarası):

"I got a call. They don't tell me what happened to Rukiye. But they just say come. She says, "I cannot go downstairs, there is the baby at home. Come and take your wife to the hospital." I went there from my workplace in a colleague's car. I don't know the address in Bostancı. How did I go? How did I find it? I don't know. "What happened?" I ask them. Nobody responds. The family whom she cleaned their house say nothing. They never called after [the death]. Until the lawsuit is opened."

A year after my death, Public Prosecutor Ahmet Atlı asked for an expert report before writing the indictment.

Dr. The expert report by A-Class Occupational Safety Specialist, Civil Engineer Tamer Metinsoy surprised me a bit. Because the report claimed that I was the only one responsible for falling out of the window. The expert report claimed that home employer Merve Gürler did not instruct me to wipe the window.

İmece union members hold a statement for the press.

The first hearing of my death was in October 2014. During the hearing, there were interesting dialogues. When asked about if they take safety measures at home, the defendant replied, "I wouldn't let her use soap because I can't stand soap trace.

The first expert report said that I was at genuine fault and the employer was at secondary fault. The second expert report said the employer was at genuine fault and I wasn't at fault.

A team of experts, including occupational safety specialists, prepared the third report. The report mentioned, "the area was not properly protected despite the risk of falling from a height, working without necessary security measures was not prevented, and there are inadequacies in education and supervision issues".

The male employer was also held responsible

My lawyer Sevgi Evren stated that the third report is a precedent in terms of both the findings and the description of the accident as a work accident. "Maybe this will be the first time a house employer will be sentenced to serve a prison term because the court should give a sentence not just for causing death by negligence but also for possible intention to kill."

The struggle of my lawyer Evren and İmece Home Workers Union lasted for many years. At the end of almost six years, in April 2019, İstanbul 26th Penal Court of First Instance gave a sentence that is higher from the lower limit.

This was achieved through the intervention of dozens of domestic workers who came to each trial until the last hearing. And this time, not only the domestic employer Merve Gürler, but also his wife Hakan Gürler was held responsible in the case for damages.
It wasn't just the woman who stole my wife's life, we also proved that. My lawyer Evren says that this is a very important and precedent decision for domestic workers.

I'm Rukiye Şimşek, I lost my life when I was 42. The decision in the case opened due to my death was a precedent for domestic workers.
This is the only happiness of my wife Bahri and my two children, who said, "We lost our dreams" after I lost my life.

What is the importance of the verdict?

Ayşe Özdemir, a lawyer from İmece Home Workers Union, explained bianet the case of Rukiye Şimşek:

This is an achievement against capitalism and the male-dominated system, especially the lawlessness that invades our lives completely.

Domestic worker women do not just clean the houses they go for a cleaning, they also cook, iron, wipe glasses, take care of children and do every kind of work. The main thing that compels them to work in such a variety of jobs is that their labor is not described and that no job description is made. Their labor is truly excluded from the law. In this sense, being out of the law is slavery.

The number of domestic workers except migrant workers is about 1 million, but the number of insured accounts for only 1% of this. Rukiye was not the first example of this exploitation of labor, but it was only one of the tragedies that made this exploitation visible. With the conclusion of the case, we were able to reveal the fact that the male employer was also responsible for occupational homicide.

"We see the imposition of gender roles"

Employers' attorneys tried to keep the employer man, who holds the economic power, out of the case, and tried to prevent the manifestation of law and justice. We see in all its aspects the imposition of gender roles on the basis of the defense of Rukiye's case.

In addition to this, we are faced with an understanding that keeps men out of domestic labor and draws the inside of the house with male-dominated and sexist boundaries.

The employer man, who relied on all the advantages of this dominant understanding throughout the trial process, of course, did not expect such a result at the time of decision. In the person of the employer, who took on the armor of this understanding, the male-dominant and unlawful situation was convicted.

This result is based on the power that our righteousness gives us. The situation that emerged in the person of Rukiye was the result of our struggle and determination.

In this case, which was finally accepted as an occupational accident, male and female home employers were held responsible for the death of our domestic worker friend.

(EMK/VK)

Origin

BIA News Desk

domestic workers

Evrim Kepenek

@kepenekevrimm

[email protected]

all articles of the author

Editor of bianet Women’s News (2018). Editor of bianet Women’s and LGBTI+ News from October 2018 to February 2025. She conducts workshops on gender-focused journalism...

Editor of bianet Women’s News (2018). Editor of bianet Women’s and LGBTI+ News from October 2018 to February 2025. She conducts workshops on gender-focused journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. She is among the founders of the Women and LGBTI+ Commission of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS). She is a board member of the TGS Istanbul Branch for the 2023–2027 term. She received the Musa Anter Journalism Award in 2011 and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award in 2024. She worked as a reporter for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, İMC TV, DİHA, Jinha, and Jin News, and also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her news reports and articles have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and trade magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a Hemşin culture magazine. She contributed writings to the books Yeşilden Maviye Karadenizden Kadın Portreleri, Sırtında Sepeti, and Medya ve Yalanlar. She was a bianet intern in 2000. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University.