*İlayda Yılmaz
As November 25th approaches, we spoke with a student from YTU about women’s struggle on campus against male violence.
As we approach November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the anger and pain of the murder of İkbal Uzuner and Ayşenur Halil is still fresh in the hearts of Turkish women.
İkbal and Ayşenur were two 19-year-old university students who were brutally murdered by a man named Semih Çelik on the same day. Following their murder, female students organised protests at dozens of schools. We spoke with Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ) student Deniz Odabaşı about the demonstrations at her university and the women’s struggle.
“Only women’s solidarity can keep us alive”
Deniz, who said that protests at universities are valuable and necessary, explained the decision process for protests at YTU as follows:
“A WhatsApp group was created very quickly on this subject at the university where I study, and the link was sent from hand to hand. Very strict preparations were made for the protest day at YTU, and the statements published by the clubs affected the number of participants in this protest. A joint statement was published. If we are going to talk about YTU, I think we should not ignore the clubs in these matters because we are an active school in terms of clubs. Of course, these are secondary reasons in my opinion. The protest was so strong because of our female students’ anger, which is seen in protests at every school. We are all under the threat of men, and we feel obliged to speak out for this. That is why we are blockading our schools’ streets on November 25 and March 8. Only women’s solidarity can keep us alive.”
YTU students protested the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention and raised their demands to implement Article 6284. Deniz shared the following regarding the determination of the slogans:
“Our slogans were conveyed via Whatsapp due to a joint decision. Our main slogan was ‘Keep your anger alive, hold your head high, hold your sister’s hand tightly’. Our primary duty was to underline the Istanbul Convention and tell everyone about Article 6284. Femicides are political because if the Istanbul Convention and 6284 were currently being implemented, our sisters would be alive. If the laws protecting women and queers are not enforced, if they are abolished, and if the perpetrators are not appropriately punished, men who have not yet become murderers will also find the courage and beat and kill women in the middle of the street. Femicides can be prevented, and we, as women, can make lawmakers and implementers take steps for this with our struggle and solidarity.
“We have to resist to defend our areas and our lives”
Deniz explained how it would be possible for these actions to be continuous and for women’s solidarity and struggle to increase in universities as follows:
“The survival of the women’s struggle is not forgetting the experiences in the past, but constantly remembering and reminding them. The survival of women’s struggles will be possible by supporting each other. For example, the actions to be taken by the school administration to prevent harassment in universities should be followed. I think the first action can be taken in one’s environment, the school. We see struggles in some universities where signatures are collected to establish CİTOB but are ignored by the school administration. I am sorry to say that we do not have a sexual harassment prevention unit or similar formation in our school. However, we have an active women’s club. We need to take steps for CİTOB as university women. We have to resist to defend our areas and our lives.”
Deniz explained the attitude of the school administration during the protests as follows:
“To be honest, during the protests, the school administration did not oppress us in a way that would silence us. YTU is an advantageous place compared to most schools in this regard. The school administration only changed the place of the press statement, which was initially read in front of the rectorate, and directed us to the Festival Area inside YTU. Their reason was that we were too crowded. No one interfered; everyone read the text they wanted. Of course, we would have wanted the rector and the administration team to be with us. I don’t think we can say we received open support unless we walk side by side.”
The sustainability of the actions and women’s solidarity requires every university and every student to participate in this struggle.
Deniz states that the attitude of university administrations is vital in this sense and emphasises that real change will only come with women’s united struggle and resistance.
She explains that the actions and resistance should continue on the streets, campuses, and living and workspaces.
In the fight against violence against women, women and queers must fight together for a social transformation. Because only with women’s solidarity and struggle will real change be possible.
