Sur Municipality Combats Domestic Violence through Labour Contracts

Abdullah Demirtaş, mayor of the Sur municipality in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır, has collaborated with Vezir Perişan, president of the Diyarbakır branch of the trade union for municipal workers (Belediye-İş) in order to implement a collective labour agreement that includes sanctions against domestic violence.

According to this new labour agreement, which was amended on 1 July, municipal staff who treat their spouses or children violently will have half of their wages deducted, and it will be paid to the spouses. In addition, any payments due to an employee on resignation will also be paid to the spouse. Should a person have contracted more than one marriage (i.e. one official and other religious marriages), the payments will be made to the officially married spouse.

"Social change requires changes for women"

Demirtaş told bianet that the collective labour agreement concerns 269 people. He said, "Social change requires changes in domestic relations. Sometimes the patriarchal mindset does not accept change and development for women. We observe that violence against women increases at times. As officials, we need to positively support change and development for women."

Demirtaş pointed out that his party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), generally applied a gender quota: "The liberation of society depends on the liberation of women. We have thus applied such sanctions against gender-based violence."

Language courses for employees

The labour agreement also announces that in order to offer multi-lingual municipal services, the employees will be offered English, Kurdish (Kırmanci and Zaza), Syriac and Armenian language courses.

Multi-lingual municipal services cost Demirtaş his position in the past, as he was taken to court. However, so the mayor, "The Diyarbakır Governor's Office, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, took us from our position, but now it has started to offer services in Kurdish. They have created a call-centre where citizens can complain in Kurdish, and they have started to employ personnel with knowledge of Kurdish. It is a historical event that those who banned us and disposed us now agree with us." (EÖ/AG)