Read the full report hereAs Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation, we have been fighting against male violence since 1990. The solidarity we built with women who contact Mor Çatı and seek a way to get away from male violence shows us both what male violence is and the level of harm it inflicts on women’s lives. Women, who are subjected to different forms of male violence, face many obstacles in their efforts and struggle to lead a life free of violence. We closely observe that women are able to rebuild their lives when they have access to the support they need.
Whereas women take the risk of taking a step towards building a new life with almost nothing in their hands, we see that sometimes the mechanisms set to prevent violence run out on women, forcing them to return to the houses where they are subjected to violence. Accordingly, much of our work at Mor Çatı involves monitoring violence-prevention mechanisms, liaising with relevant institutions, and pushing for policy and institutional changes that improve women’s lives. We know that the problems encountered in these mechanisms could only be overcome through resolute political commitment.
We see the negative effects of anti-gender politics, including Turkey’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention in 2021, in every aspect of our lives. Given the current attacks on Law No. 6284, these negative tendencies also shape the attitudes and approaches of those who are responsible for implementing the law. On top of everything, our rights protected by the Turkish Civil Code are under attack. Let alone developing policies that aim at ensuring gender equality, the very expression “gender equality” is increasingly being treated as problematic. Bills aimed at defining “gender-appropriate behavior” are introduced one by one; bills that not only reinforce traditional gender roles that lead to discrimination against women but also fuel hatred toward the LGBTI+ community. They are attempting to discredit and delegitimize our demands by deliberately polarizing society through narratives that pit women’s and LGBTI+ people’s demands for equality and freedom against the institution of the family. Declarations of a “Family Year” or a “Family Decade” serve as a strategy to prevent the development of policies addressing the discrimination and violence women face, while potentially exacerbating existing inequalities.
We are living at a time when the institutions that are responsible for developing policies to prevent violence and for supporting women in the face of violence are under anti-democratic attacks. Municipalities with which we have collaborated for many years to promote policies that benefit women have either been placed under trustee administration or seen their officials, including mayors, arrested. We know from many years of experience that the first thing the appointed trustees do is to shut down the centers and shelters that offer support to women. Even this fact alone demonstrates how crucial democracy is for our struggle against discrimination against women.
We are living at a time when authoritarian regimes prevail in many parts of the world and wars are being waged all around us. As these conditions exacerbate the discrimination and violence women face, the institutions and organizations that support women and foster solidarity are left without any resources or funding. As a result, their capacities shrink and their operations come to a standstill. Even though as women’s organizations we try to act in solidarity, given the current economic conditions in Turkey, many organizations gradually find it very difficult to carry on their work.
Amidst this rather bleak landscape, in 2025, we still built solidarity with women against male violence, spawned opportunities to engage with professionals who offer support to women, sought ways to collaborate with municipalities even though they are under attack, came together as feminists to develop policies and created spaces to expand our feminist solidarity against male violence. We share this report with the hope that the efforts it documents will stand as a testament to, and a reminder of, the transformative power of our feminist struggle.
