We Will Stop Femicide (WWSF) has been issued with a letter calling for the group to be disbanded for public security reasons, and organizers are now facing a lengthy legal battle to keep it open. Prosecutors allege the group violated the law and acted immorally, “breaking up the family structure by ignoring the concept of the family under the guise of defending women’s rights.” Widan Atasselim, WWSF Secretary-General, said: “We do not see this as just an attack on us. “For us, this is an attack on all women in Turkey, on all social movements, on the entire democratic public opinion.” It was a tragic act, said Emma Sinclair-Webb, director of the Observatory for Human Rights in Turkey. “It’s very challenging,” he said. “The authorities are well aware that this is an extremely successful and very visible campaign. “It’s grotesque to chase this team, it’s totally disproportionate – and what do you want? “Everyone knows it’s ridiculous.” It is the latest leap against civil society, already outraged by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to withdraw Turkey from the Istanbul Convention on Violence against Women last year. The move sparked widespread protests, many of them organized by the WWSF, which provoked a strong reaction from the police. Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) defended the decision, saying existing laws were enough to protect women. The move to close the WWSF is seen as an attempt to marginalize feminist activists and separate them from the more conservative women considered most sympathetic to the government. General elections are expected this year, and Erdogan is facing growing opposition at the polls. “They left the Istanbul assembly and the society reacted very strongly. Now they are trying to polarize society. “They are trying to marginalize our movement, but they will not succeed, because we are an organization that draws its strength from society,” Ataselim said. “Ultimately, this is a divisive act aimed at pitting women against each other,” Webb said. “It sows further social divisions as a way to get into an election cycle as well – Erdogan brings women against women in an effort to support the support of religious, pious, conservative women against those women who may say they are immoral.” “They’re trying to make a cultural war out of it.” The WWSF, with 750 active members, was founded in 2010 in response to the murder of a 17-year-old student by her partner. It has a nationwide network that provides legal support to survivors of domestic violence, as well as data collection on gynecology, monitoring trials and organizing rallies. It comes amid an increase in female homicides in Turkey. The WWSF estimates that 416 women were killed because of their gender last year and another 72 were killed between January and March 2022. Şükran Eroğlu, of the Istanbul-based Bar Association’s women’s rights center, said she was waiting for the WWSF authorities to attack her after changes to the law earlier this year restricting her freedom of association. “We knew this would have consequences,” he said. “Therefore, this would definitely start with women’s unions, because the women’s movement is on the rise in Turkey.” Gülsüm Kav, who founded the WWSF, vowed to fight the closure. “This is an attack on women’s right to life. So we will never give up our rights, our struggle. “We will fight together with the public to overturn this illegal step,” he said. Subscribe to Her Stage to hear directly from incredible women in the developing world the topics that matter to them, delivered to your inbox each month: Subscribe to Her Stage – check your spam mail for confirmation email
