Turkey's attacks on Northern and Eastern Syria, the war in the Israeli-Palestinian geography, the attack of the regime forces who want to suppress the popular resistance that started after the murder of Jîna Emînî in Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Taliban's attacks on Afghan women... While wars and conflicts increase in the region, the discourse "Women's bodies are not spoils of war" is rising from the women's front.

 

World history is full of countless war crimes against women. In 1992, thousands of Bosnian women were raped by Serbian soldiers. In 1994, 500 thousand people were raped in Rwanda. After ISIS's attack on Shengal in 2014, Yazidi women and girls were sold in "slave markets".

 

The naked body of Ekin Van, who lost her life in a conflict in Muş in 2015, was displayed by soldiers on a street. On December 19, Taybet İnan's body was held on the street for seven days during the curfew in Silopiya district. According to the data of the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissariat regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine; 400 cases of sexual assault against Ukrainian women were recorded. During Hamas' attack on Israel, civilians in the region were taken prisoner. German citizen Shani Louk was tied naked in the back of a vehicle.

 

However, with the convention signed in Geneva on August 2, 1949, the rules of war were determined and the aim was to protect the victims of war, but both before and after the convention, the ruling powers resorted to all kinds of violations against women and children in wars.

 

'SOVEREIGN POWERS ARE GIVING A MESSAGE'

 

Dilek Başalan from the Women's Time Association stated that contrary to what appears to be the face of wars, women and children are most affected. Stating that they are faced with great brutality due to the escalating wars in the Middle East, Başalan noted that wars bring with them all kinds of violations.

 

Stating that states aim to send a message with crimes committed openly against women in countries where there is war, Başalan said: "The murder of Jîna Emînî in Iran, the funeral of mother Taybet being held in the middle of the street for days, the display of Ekin Van's body on street, everywhere the state's mind is about 'honour'." It is a question of 'exhibiting' the female body through the concept of '. "The dominant powers are sending the message 'I am the state/I am a man, I will drag your corpse on the ground and parade it, and this shows my power, it shows that I won the war'."

 

REASONS FOR ATTACKING THE WOMEN'S BODY?

 

Noting that there are many psychological and sociological reasons for exposing the female body during conflict periods, Başalan said: “According to the masculine understanding, exposing a woman's body also means discrediting that people, family and tribe. According to the male state of mind; When you open a woman's privacy, you actually reveal the values of that country. It is thought that it inflicts a great defeat on the country, race and nation you target, which is why it attacks the most 'sacred' one. For us, mothers are a value, the white scarf worn by mothers is a value. That's why they've been attacking mothers wearing white headscarves during protests for years.

 

'PROVING MASCULINITY AND POWER THROUGH WOMEN'

 

Not holding Taybet's funeral for days is psychological violence. The mind that killed Jîna Emînî in Iran because a strand of her hair was visible is no different from the mind that left mother Taybet's body in the middle of the street. They are all trying to prove their masculinity and power through women. As women, we know how to pick up the body of mother Taybet, Jîna Emînî and Ekin Van from the street, and we know how to pick up Shani Louk, who was tied behind a truck in Israel, from the ground.”

 

'WOMEN ARE THE PIONEERING SPIRIT IN THE MIDDLE EAST'

 

Referring to the war in Turkey, which is a result of insisting on a deadlock on the Kurdish issue, Başalan said: “It is necessary to know that this issue is an issue that needs to be solved as quickly as possible. We women are very experienced in peace, and we must reveal this experience as quickly as possible and fight for peace. It is necessary to see this; There is a pioneering spirit in the Middle East and it is women. We women can also carry out more political and long-term work against the male mentality that fuels this war."

 

'WOMEN'S BODY IS NOT SPOILS OF WAR'  

 

Stating that they should take to the streets for Rojava just as they take to the streets for Palestine today, Başalan said: "The same sensitivity should be shown against all wars. It has happened that the approval of the Presidential memorandum regarding the extension of the period of the permit to send soldiers to Iraq and Syria for another 2 years. While we say 'no to war' in one place, war permits are approved in another place. War means crime against women. The peace experiences of women in Turkey are very strong, we know very well what struggle we will face in the process. That's why we have a difficult process ahead of us, but we are not hopeless. We will fight against the male mentality that makes political propaganda through the female body. The female body is not a battlefield, no one should make propaganda through the female body."