With the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women approaching on 25 November, women’s organizations are preparing events and actions at full gear. The focus of these activities is to establish a street movement against violence towards women and femicides while also engaging in discussions about the causes and roots of male violence. The preparations are centered around practical steps to combat individual violence, patriarchal attitudes, state violence, attacks on women’s rights, and police barriers. Feride Eralp and feminist lawyer Diren Cevahir Şen assessed the severity of violence and femicides against women.

‘Men view violence as a right’

Eralp pointed out that men perceive violence against women as a right. “Men define their lives within the boundaries of women’s lives. – Eralp said – They believe they have a form of ownership over women. This occurs both in Turkey and in various other regions. When men feel angry, become substance abusers, are unhappy for some reason, or face financial ruin, they do not go and kill their bosses; they kill women. This behavior is rooted in patriarchy. Feminists have been trying to articulate this for many years, and the fundamental point we want to convey is that the manifestation of this as male violence is a power relationship. It arises from a system that allows men to exist by oppressing and exploiting women.”

‘Inequality normalizes violence’

Eralp emphasized that the male-dominated system gives men the notion of being privileged while placing responsibilities on women. “Despite feminist calls for attention to the laws, there remains an unshaken reality: a man sees himself as having the right to inflict violence on a woman when his word is not heeded. Therefore, this is a matter of dominance. As long as this inequality is not eradicated, violence will continue to be normalized and is already being normalized as we are not accepted as independent beings, but merely as secondary entities within the family framework,” she stated.

‘All forms of violence must be made visible’

Eralp said that they see the first step of the struggle as naming male violence. She highlighted that society tends to evaluate its response to violence as something distant from their own lives. “There’s a widespread belief that the people we know, those who walk down our streets, the local grocery store we shop at, are not the men we live with, who commit violence as if they are individuals with social disorders out there, far from us. However, violence does not start with brutal murders. It begins when a man insists that his wife’s salary be deposited into his account, controls what she wears when she goes out, or feels entitled to ask for her phone and social media passwords under the guise of love. This is where we might mislabel it as love instead of violence. The relationship of ownership that men establish with us, where they see themselves as having the right to possess us, lies at the root of violence. We must make these very ordinary forms of violence visible; I believe it is an important duty for us as feminists.”

Eralp said that they will be in the streets on 25 November against the normalization of male violence by the state, its impunity, and the state violence established through male violence. She called upon all women to take to the streets.