As women across the world prepare to take to the streets for International Working Women’s Day on March 8, one of the key centers of demonstrations and events will once again be Diyarbakır (Amed). As in previous years, women who began preparations days in advance continue their work for large rallies and marches.
This year, March 8 will be marked under the slogan: “Women rise up against poverty, exploitation, war and violence.” In the calls made so far, emphasis is placed on joint struggle against the deepening economic crisis, the invisibilization of women’s labor, war policies and increasing male violence. On March 8, women will both raise their objections in the streets and once again voice their demands for equality and freedom.
Büşra Yentürk from the March 8 Organizing Committee spoke to ANF about the ongoing preparations for March 8 and the demands of women.
‘The “Year of the Family” discourse does not center women’
Büşra Yentürk said that the approach described as the “Year of the Family” may appear at first glance to aim at strengthening social unity, but in essence it does not represent a discourse that centers women.
Yentürk continued: “There is no perspective here that recognizes women as individuals and places their rights and freedom at the center. On the contrary, there is an understanding that defines women within the family and legitimizes their existence through family unity. If a policy that truly prioritized women were being pursued, hundreds of women would not lose their lives as a result of male violence during a period declared as the ‘Year of the Family.’ This situation shows us that a mentality which removes women from being subjects and defines them through a role and function within the family not only fails to prevent violence but also renders it invisible.”
Yentürk also criticized the fact that the word “women” is not included in the name of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, drawing attention to how the current structure centers the ideological policies of the authorities rather than women’s freedom.
Yentürk also said: “Even within a ministry responsible for policies concerning women, the fact that women are not defined as subjects is a serious problem. There is a need for an independent Ministry of Women that places the best interests of women at its core. Because the existing structure is centered on protecting the family; whereas what must be protected are the individuals within the family, not the family itself.”
The state is obliged to protect the individual, not the family
Büşra Yentürk pointed to modern human rights law and emphasized that the state’s obligation is to protect the individual rather than the family.
Yentürk said: “International law is very clear: the responsibility of the state is not to glorify the institution of the family but to guarantee the rights of individuals within the family. Violence against women is not a matter of the private sphere. That is precisely why the Istanbul Convention defines violence as a responsibility of the state. The cornerstone of the convention is not to protect family unity but to prevent violence, protect victims and effectively punish perpetrators.”
Yentürk also referred to data on femicides and pointed to the high proportion of killings committed by partners or former partners, stating that an approach prioritizing family unity carries the risk of rendering violence invisible.
Economic violence is an ideological siege
Yentürk stated that women’s economic independence is of vital importance and that women are pushed into more precarious conditions during periods of economic crisis. She also said: “Gender studies clearly show us this: if a woman is not economically independent, it becomes much harder for her to escape the cycle of violence. During times of economic crisis, women are the first to be dismissed from their jobs. Women are the ones most often employed in insecure, informal and low-paid work. This is not only an economic issue; it is also an effort to preserve the role assigned to women by the patriarchal system.”
The Istanbul Convention must be reinstated
Büşra Yentürk said the line of struggle is shaped around several key axes and stressed that women’s organizations are determined to expand solidarity. Yentürk said: “As women’s organizations, we are determined to strengthen solidarity. We defend the principle of zero tolerance for violence. Returning to the Istanbul Convention and ensuring the effective implementation of Law No. 6284 are among our most fundamental demands. A victim-centered, not perpetrator-centered, judicial approach must be adopted. The protection of women must be ensured in practice, not only on paper.”
Women will build freedom
Yentürk said the March 8 events to be held in Diyarbakır reflect the demands of the broader women’s movement in Turkey and are nourished by the historical and political experience of Kurdish women’s identity. She emphasized that the event is not merely a symbolic commemoration.
Yentürk said, “It is a collective political space for producing a voice against patriarchal domination, state violence, economic inequalities and the denial of identity. Kurdish women are carrying out a simultaneous struggle against forms of oppression stemming both from being women and from being Kurdish. This year’s March 8 slogan will be ‘We become free through resistance; we build the democratic society.’ Women will not be content only with resisting; they will build freedom.”
Yentürk added that March 8 in Diyarbakır will also serve as a platform to voice demands for peace and a democratic solution, noting that ending political repression and expanding democratic space are inseparable parts of the women’s struggle for freedom.
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