10/11/2023 | Writer: Defne Işık
26th Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centers was held in İzmir under the theme of “Preventive studies to combat violence against women”.
26th Assembly of Women’s Shelters and Solidarity Centers, which has been organized annually since 1989, was held in İzmir between November 4-6, hosted by İzmir Woman Solidarity Association. 300 people attended the assembly, which was carried out under the theme of “Preventive studies to combat violence against women”.
The policies and political atmosphere, which bring rights and visibility of women to a standstill within years, followed by the ruling party were underlined within the scope of the opening speech made by the host institution İzmir Women Solidarity Association. Stating that existing safe spaces for women are gradually disappearing and the importance of fighting all together with women right defenders and LGBTI+s was emphasized.
Irene Zeilinger of Garance ASBL, an organization in Belgium, Selime Büyükgöze and Açelya Uçan, volunteers of Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation, Gökçeçiçek Ayata, member of the Women’s Platform for Equality, Tuğçe Canbolat of Feminist Solidarity for Disaster, Gül Erdost from Women’s Coalition, Deniz Özkor of Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation (TAPV) and Duygu Dokuz from Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) were among the guest speakers of the assembly.
The first session of the Assembly included presentations and discussions on preventive studies in the context of the Istanbul Convention; attacks on women’s rights in Turkey, implementation problems and preventive work; solidarity with women to prevent violence against women.
The second session of the Assembly featured presentations and discussions on prevention studies in times of disaster and crisis, prevention and protection work in access to sexual health services and rights, and the importance the practices conducted within the context of Human Rights Education Program for Women (HREP) in prevention work in communities.
Following the presentation, participants shared their own and their clients' experiences in the aftermath of the earthquake from various cities and organisations. Havva Kafes, a social worker from May 17 Association, talked about the work of Ankara LGBTI+ Earthquake Solidarity (mainly social worker support, resource development, advocacy, peer counselling and news confirmation). She also touched on the difficulties LGBTI+ people faced in this process. The experiences of LGBTI+ refugees in the post-earthquake process and the multi-layered discrimination they faced, as well as the problems of guidance and resources as professionals and associations, were then discussed by Defne Işık, a social worker from Kaos GL Association. The common point in Kafes and Işık’s narratives was that they also addressed the issue of inclusivity while seeking support and resources throughout the process.
The final declaration of the 26th Women's Shelters and Solidarity Assembly will be shared with the public on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The three-day meeting was completed with a solidarity message for the case of Hande Buse Şeker, a trans woman killed in 2019.
CLICK - https://kaosgl.org/en/single-news/solidarity-with-hande-buse-seker-from-shelters-assemblies
Tanslated by: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights, women, life
