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"Religionism is rising in both Turkey and the world. For instance, Poland... They oppose the İstanbul Convention for similar reasons.
"Patriarchy has suddenly started to be shaken by the power of the women's movement. Patriarchy is shaking and this scares the government. That is why they have been attacking the İstanbul Convention."
This was how feminist lawyer Canan Arın, one of the founders of the Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation, addressed her online audience at the awards ceremony organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Granted for the past 10 years in memory of Anne Klein, a struggling lawyer and the first woman senator of the state of Berlin, this year's Anne Klein Women's Award has been given to Canan Arın.
While Arın was presented her award in an online ceremony today (March 4), a similar ceremony will also be held tomorrow.
'Government's aim is to enforce sharia'
Speaking in today's ceremony, Canan Arın drew attention to the power of women's movement in Turkey, noting that the attacks of the government on women's rights are closely related to this power. Arın briefly said:
"The real aim of this government is to enforce sharia, but the women's movement is so powerful that it knows that it cannot do it. They want us to abolish the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women and to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention. Some MPs can say, 'Men are unemployed because women are working.'
"They are constantly giving religious references; they are making statements suggesting that if a woman is not married or does not give birth to a child, she cannot be considered a respectable woman.
'Women of Turkey are paying a price'
"They allege that the Convention disrupts the family structure and will empower LGBTI+s. In fact, according to Turkey's laws, being an LGBTI+ is not a crime. Men are the absolute dominators in this Turkish family structure that they praise so much. In those families, husbands kill their wives.
"I think March 8 will be enthusiastically celebrated this year as well. Though police spray gas, women come together and they will do so. On Saturday, women will be in Kadıköy; then, they will be in Sıraselviler on Monday. Will I be able to attend this year? I don't know. I have health problems.
"Women will cry out loud once again this year, saying 'İstanbul Convention saves lives'; they will say, 'Give us our rights.' No matter how much patriarchy resists, the world is changing and women will have the victory.
"I would like to thank you for granting me this award. Women of Turkey have paid so much price with their lives for their freedom."
'She didn't step back despite criminal complaints'
Barbara Unmüssig, the jury chair, has also said that even though there are dozens of criminal complaints against Canan Arın, she has not given up on women's struggle and she has been been granted this award due to her struggle for women's right to determine their fate themselves.
Previously granted to Nebahat Akkoç
Arın has also been granted a monetary prize of 10 thousand Euro.
Anne Klein Women's Award is granted to women activists struggling for women's rights in their country. In 2015, the award was granted to Nebahat Akkoç, the founder of KAMER foundation.
About the Award and Canan ArınHeinrich Böll Foundation has shared the award granted to Canan Arın in a written statement on its website. The statement briefly reads: The Turkish lawyer and women's rights activist Cânân Arın receives the Anne Klein Women's Award 2021. The lawyer from Istanbul has been campaigning for women's rights and self-determination for over 40 years. She is the co-founder of the first independent Turkish women's shelter of the Mor Çatı (Purple Roof) association. She has fought in countless cases for women who have been subjected to violence. With her commitment, Cânân Arın contributed to Turkey being the first country to ratify the so-called Istanbul Convention in 2012. The "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence" is the first European treaty that aims to prevent and punish violence against women and domestic violence. But: The success of the Istanbul Convention is acutely threatened in Turkey. The Turkish government has been considering a withdrawal since summer 2020. "With the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, important successes of the Turkish women's movement would be reversed. With Cânân Arın, many thousands of women in Turkey are currently fighting against the women's political rollback and for a self-determined life without violence," explains jury chair Barbara Unmüßig, board member of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. In Turkey - as in many countries worldwide - domestic violence is on the rise. The number of murders of women alone has doubled in the past ten years. This is also regretted by the hardliners in the Turkish government - but they blame the women themselves. They argue that the Convention on the Protection of Women and Girls against Violence "undermines the traditional image of the family" and promotes "gender mania" - a view that even today serves as a pretext for states like Bulgaria and Hungary not to ratify the Convention. "With Cânân Arın, the jury pays tribute to the personal courage and tenacity of the Turkish fighter for the right of all women to a violence-free, self-determined life," Barbara Unmüßig emphasises and adds: "The Anne Klein Women's Prize is being awarded for the 10th time and it is no exaggeration to say that the combative Berlin lawyer Anne Klein and our prize winner this year could have been sisters in spirit." |
(EMK/SD)
