VAN - Drawing attention to the fact that the state of war in Kurdistan increased violence against women, Star Women's Association director Sevgi Özdinç said, "There should be an organized struggle against the situation in question."

 

According to the data of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform (KCDP); 4 thousand 12 women have been murdered in the last 10 years. According to JINNEWS' data on violence against women; In the first 6 months of 2023, 249 women were murdered, 40 in January, 20 in February, 38 in March, 40 in April, 62 in May, and 49 in June. According to the data compiled by the Star Women's Association; In the first 6 months of 2023, 10 women lost their lives in Wan, 8 of them suspicious. In addition, within the first 6 months, 52 women applied to the association with complaints of violence.

 

VIOLENCE TO WOMEN IS INCREASING

 

Drawing attention to the increase in femicides and violence against women, Star Women's Association director Sevgi Özdinç said: "The state's impunity policy feeds this situation. There are emotional violence and economic violence along with physical violence in the applications made to their associations. There are many reasons for the increase in violence cases. Especially in Kurdistan, there is a state of war. During the war, women and children are primarily at risk because they are both subjected to the violence of the state and they are exposed to the violence of the men due to the power's inability to protect them."

 

Expressing that the state of war in Kurdistan brings violence, Özdinç said: “As we women are usually on the streets and we are the subject of the struggle, we are the first to be subjected to the violence of the state. Power and the state, especially towards women because the woman takes her struggle to the end; therefore, women are the primary target of violence.”

 

'EVERY KIND OF VIOLENCE IS USED'

 

Mentioning that the violence perpetrated against women by the state has many different dimensions, Özdinç said: “Until recently, we could not use the street. Press releases, marches and rallies we wanted to make were banned by the state. When we use the street, the physical violence of the state is immediately applied. There is state policy, but there is also the policy of the government because there is a right conservative government. What this government wants is for women to be confined to their homes. Opposition women are the subject of violence for them. There is economic violence against women by the state. Women need economic power to maintain their lives, but they cannot use the street as they have been deprived of this in the last period. The language used by the state against women itself includes violence against women.

 

EQUAL REPRESENTATION

 

Expressing that the government policy is the source of violence against women, Özdinç said: “As of 2016, trustees appointed to municipalities closed all women's institutions. The government  attacked the co-presidency system. Many women were arrested. Many women were dismissed. Nearly 70 percent of the women working in that period were dismissed from their jobs. Women's shelters and counseling centers were closed. They are afraid of women because we were carrying out our work through equal representation. There was an attempt to create equal representation in Kurdistan, but the state tried to prevent this.”

 

‘WE WILL CONTINUE OUR STRUGGLE’

 

Focusing on the effects of impunity policies on violence against women in Kurdistan, especially in Wan, Özdinç said: “Men are not punished, good behavior is practiced. As no punishment is given, men are patted on the back and masculinity is glorified. Besides, there is 'uniform violence'. Women and children are subjected to violence and abuse by law enforcement, but a policy of impunity is still applied. In order to prevent these acts of violence, first of all, the right law must be applied and the policies of impunity must be abandoned. For this, we will continue our struggle every day more organized and growing.”

 

MA / Ömer Akın