Men Meet in Ankara Governor's Office, Discuss Male Violence

Offering an alternative picture based on the one shared by the governorship, women asked, "Why are there no women?"

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Chaired by Ankara Governor Vasip Şahin, a coordination meeting was held at the Governorship of Ankara today (December 19). The objective of the meeting was to ensure that the "2020-2021 Coordination Plan for Struggle against Violence against Women" was effectively implemented.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Governors of Ankara, Ankara Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor, Provincial Health Director, Provincial Director of National Education, Provincial Director of Family, Labor and Social Services, Provincial Mufti and related public officers.

No women representation in meeting

Making a statement after the meeting, Governor Şahin said that they came together with the related unit chiefs and directors in Ankara as part of the Coordination Plan of Struggle Against Violence Against Women.

As the the attendants of the meeting were all men, it has shown once again that the representation of women is disregarded.

Social media reactions against the meeting

The Governorship shared a brief message about the meeting on Twitter along with a picture from the meeting room: "Ankara Provincial Coordination Meeting on struggle against violence against women was chaired by Governor Vasip Şahin. The necessary measures to be taken and the coordination plan for the years 2020-2021 were discussed in the meeting."

Shortly afterwards, women offered an alternative picture to the one shared by the governorship. Women asked, "Why are there no women?", "It is where the problem should be resolved in the first place. There are no women in the meeting." Some of these social media messages were as follows:

Konu, kadına yönelik şiddet ve alınması gereken tedbirler ama toplantıda tek bir kadın yok. Asıl sorunun tespitine de buradan başlamak GEREK. https://t.co/I9YmgCAEzM

— Hayri Demir (@HayriDemir_) December 19, 2019

Journalist Hayri Demir: "The subject is the measures to be taken about violence against women, but there is not a single woman in the meeting. It is where the real problems NEEDS to be identified in the first place."

Siz kadınlara yönelik şiddeti de, her bakımdan yetersiz ve kendinizden düşük gördüğünüz kadınlara danışmazsınız ama #CendırBeşlisi https://t.co/2Y34AJgGCS pic.twitter.com/vs8C0h25Fo

— Filmmor (@Filmmor_) December 19, 2019

Filmmor: "But, you do not consult women, whom you regard incompetent and inferior to yourselves, about violence against women." (EMK/SD)