Murder of Trans Woman Hande Şeker Protested in Kadıköy

Rights defenders have commemorated transgender woman Hande Şeker, who was murdered in İzmir on January 9. Gathering in front of Süreyya Cinema in Kadıköy, İstanbul, they have made a call to the state to comply with the İstanbul Convention.

Evrim Kepenek

Murder of Trans Woman Hande Şeker Protested in Kadıköy

Click to read the article in Turkish

Rights advocates commemorated transgender woman Hande Şeker in front of Süreyya Cinema in Kadıköy, İstanbul yesterday (January 14).

In a row that erupted in an apartment in Konak, İzmir, the bullets from the firearm of a police officer killed trans woman Hande Şeker and wounded trans woman Y.A. and A.T.K. on January 9. Throughout 2018, four trans individuals were murdered in Turkey.

CLICK - Trans Woman Murdered in İzmir, 1 Police Officer Detained

Meeting upon the call of the Lambdaistanbul Association, the rights defenders chanted the slogans "Trans murders are political" and "Transphobia, homophobia, prostitute phobia kill." They also carried banners which read "Femicides are political" and "Trans murders are political."

* Massacred women are our revolt

Gülay Özbulut read out the statement for the press on behalf of the group. Here are some of the highlights from the statement:

"Turkey is, unfortunately, the country with the highest number of trans murders in Europe and ranks ninth in the world in that regard.

"We are, once again, spilling out our anger against this system, which takes away the basic rights of these women, separates them from formal education, prevents them from being employed and leaves them no choice other than doing forced and precarious sex work and always has the police violence in stock for them! Transgender women are women.

"Murders are not isolated incidents"

"The lives of women are being trivialized. The patriarchal system is making up different excuses for femicides.

"Some of these women are murdered due to transphobia, some of them are killed because they are labelled as dishonorable and some of them are killed because they reject the love of men. We know that these murders are not isolated incidents, but a result of the patriarchal system. We want these murders to immediately come to an end."

Referring to the İstanbul Convention on this occasion, Özbulut also made a call to the state to abide by the convention and secure the rights of women regardless of their gender identity. (EMK/SD)

Origin

BIA News Desk

Evrim Kepenek

@kepenekevrimm

[email protected]

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Editor of Bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news section (Oct 2018–Feb 2025). Previously worked as a Bianet intern between 2000 and 2001. Reported for Cumhuriyet, BirGün,...

Editor of Bianet’s women and LGBTI+ news section (Oct 2018–Feb 2025). Previously worked as a Bianet intern between 2000 and 2001. Reported for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, DİHA, Jinha, Jin News, and İMC TV. Also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her articles and news reports have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and various industry magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a magazine focused on Hemşin culture.

She contributed to several books, including Portraits of Women from the Black Sea: From Green to Blue, The Basket on Her Back, and Media and Lies. Winner of the Musa Anter Journalism Award (2011) and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award (2024).

A founding member of the Turkish Journalists’ Union’s Women and LGBTI+ Commission, she currently serves as a board member of the union’s İstanbul Branch (2023–2027).

She holds degrees in European Union studies from İstanbul University and international relations from Bilgi University. She organizes workshops on gender-sensitive journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. Since Feb 2025, she has been working as a women's news editor.