Mor Çatı

The Mor Çatı (Purple Roof) women’s shelter was created in 1990 to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The founders were feminist women of different ages and from various professional and social groups who had met during feminist campaigns at the end of the 1980s. Many women engage with Mor Çatı as volunteers every year. At Mor Çatı we believe that male violence is rooted in the inequality of men and women in our society. One of our aims is to increase women’s solidarity and help them struggle against this inequality. We work to end domestic violence against women and children by building women’s self-esteem and confidence. When women are ready, we encourage them to make their own decisions. We support a woman’s decision-making process without judging her or putting pressure on her. We run a solidarity center, where women experiencing domestic violence may reach us via telephone or e-mail or face to face. Mor Çatı has run three shelters in Istanbul. Since March 2009 Mor Çatı has continued to run only one independent shelter project with the backing of the Şişli municipality, the European Commission Delegation of Turkey, and friends, supporters, and volunteers.

Although Turkey has a specific code banning violence against women, implementation of the law fails short. According to data collected from the media, thirty-three women were murdered by men in July 2014 in Turkey. The total number of women subjected to violence is unknown. We monitor court decisions, social services, and access to any rights that women have and prepare reports to make them visible in society, since the government always comes up with good public relations when it comes to women’s issues, such as ratifying the Istanbul Convention without reservation. However, we doubt that it will be implemented, since many services required in the convention are missing in Turkey, such as anti-sexual violence centers.

Women cannot exercise the rights guaranteed by the law. Law enforcement officers are either uninformed or discourage women from reporting their experiences of violence. This approach is facilitated by public opinion and government discourse and practices in Turkey. The neoliberal, socially conservative government of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) has produced many sexist and discriminating narratives about women since coming into power. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly declared in 2010 that he does not believe in equality between men and women. Such a discourse strengthens the male dominance and sexism that already exist in society. Government representatives openly attack women’s rights to their bodies, labor, and identities. In 2012, for example, Erdoğan declared that he considers abortion murder. Other government representatives always voice support for such declarations. Even as we feminists insist on empowering women, the government works very hard to strengthen the family institution. Officials consult with couples to decrease divorce rates, for example. Erdoğan regularly advises young people to marry as early as possible and have at least three children. Such a discourse especially weakens divorced women and women who want to be independent, single, and/or childless.

Social and judicial systems work against women and always in favor of patriarchy. Struggling to end violence against women from feminist perspectives and insisting on autonomous politics is very challenging in a society governed by such a mentality. We believe that the only way out of this situation is to be in solidarity with women in our center and in the streets. We insist on showing the patriarchal relations behind women’s experiences at home, at work, and in the streets.

Mor Çatı

Istanbul, Turkey

August 20, 2014