International Women’s Day protestors in Turkey clashed with the police

International Women’s Day protestors in Turkey clashed with the police
Photo by Dilara Senkaya for Reuters

23-03-2022

Ruhama Yilma Abebe

Women’s Rights Researcher, 

Global Human Rights Defence.

“If you feel helpless, remember this crowd”, this was the powerful slogan chanted by Turkish women’s right protestors on this year’s International Women’s Day (March 8) march. To mark the event, women’s rights activists took to the streets of Istanbul in observance of International Women’s Day and to call for an end to the rising femicide in Turkey. 

Femicide has had a rapid rise in the country with as at least three women being killed daily. The protest also comes in the wake of Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention (Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence) which took effect in July 1, 2021 and had sparked nation-wide protests at the time. 

The march referred to as the ‘Feminist Night March’ was held despite a ban on International Women’s Day marches, protests or press statements by the Istanbul Governor’s Office. In response to the ban, organizers of the Feminist Night March had relayed the message “We have walked for 19 years and we will walk on the 20th year, too” referring to the fact that this year marked the 20th Feminist Night March in Turkey. 

The protestors were met with police barricades, pepper spray and arrests with at least 38 protestors being placed under arrest. This is a familiar scene with the government having similar reactions to the annual march in previous years. 

Sources and further reading:

Amnesty International (July 1, 2021), “Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention rallies the fight for women’s rights across the world”, Retrieved on March 9, 2022 from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/turkeys-withdrawal-from-the-istanbul-convention-rallies-the-fight-for-womens-rights-across-the-world-2/#:~:text=Turkey%20is%20the%20first%20and,and%20ratified%20the%20Istanbul%20Convention

UN OHCHR (July 1, 2021), “UN women’s rights committee urges Turkey to reconsider withdrawal from Istanbul Convention as decision takes effect”, Retrieved on March 9, 2022 from https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27242&LangID=E 

Olivia Devereux-Evans (March 8, 2022), “Female activists clash with Turkish cops while calling an end to femicide – as protests take place across the world on International Women’s Day, Daily Mail, Retrieved on March 9, 2022 from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10591215/Female-activists-clash-Turkish-cops-calling-end-femicide.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 

Burcu Cevik-Compiegne (March 8, 2022), “Celebration becoming resistance: feminist nigh marches in Turkey”, BroadAgenda, Retrieved on March 9, 2022 from https://www.broadagenda.com.au/2022/celebration-becoming-resistance-feminist-night-marches-in-turkey/ 

Daren Butler (March 9, 2022), “Turkish police clash with crowd gathering to mark Women’s Day”, Reuters, Retrieved on March 9, 2022 from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-police-clash-with-crowd-gathering-mark-womens-day-2022-03-08/