March 8: Women's march in Istanbul

March 8: Women's International Day 2015

It has always been very cynical to me that mankind dared giving half of humanity, us, women, one "international day" out of 365, the this half giving birth and standing for the ones remaining after conflict, but what life can teach to a journalist, as well as an activist or an everyday philosopher, is that you gotta take what you're given, as a start of any fight, and "be thankful for what you've go", as some would say.

This day though also means a lot to me, as of personal achievement, as I passed an important university test on a March 8, opening the road for my entrance in a master in political sciences and journalism.

Si every year on March 8, I try to do what I can to raised a little of awareness on Women's empowerment, as we remain, half of us, humanity.

Today I was in Istanbul. This is a glimpse of what I witness:

Women's march from Taksim to Galata, Beyoglu, Istanbul. 

"We want the streets and the nights", they claimed!

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More details about Turkish feminists from Anadolu press agency here:

International Women's Day event dedicated to memory of Ozgecan Aslan, the 20-year-old student whose recent murder outraged Turkey.

ISTANBUL

More than 3,000 women have gathered for a females-only rally in Istanbul to mark International Women’s Day and denounce domestic and sexual violence in Turkey.

The women-only crowd met at 12:00 (1000 GMT) in Kadikoy on Istanbul's Anatolian side.

Organizers dedicated this year’s event to the memory of Ozgecan Aslan, the 20-year-old student whose murder in Mersin last month sparked outrage across Turkey, catapulting violence against women to the top of the domestic agenda.

The Istanbul March 8 Woman Platform -- an umbrella organization bringing together Turkish women’s rights groups -- said the rally was also dedicated to the "thousands of women who lost their lives at home, in streets or wars as a result of male-state violence."  

However, opinion was split over the female-only nature of today's event.

One organizer, Hande Yanar, 28, whose job was to prevent men from entering the event area, said: “They [men] say they are here for women and there is no difference between man and woman.

“But today is Women’s Day and this is our struggle. We do not want men to have any initiative in his event,” she said.

However, 51-year-old Mehmet Zeytin claimed that he was there “to protect women in the event area from any provocation outside.”

He said, “as it is Women’s Day today it is women’s right to have their own celebration,” while waiting just a couple steps outside the event area.

Speaking to the crowd during the rally, pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party deputy chair Pervin Buldan said: “Women are subjected to violence at home, at the workplace, in the streets and squares.

“Everybody should know very well that we are not anyone’s daughter, sister, wife or honor,” Buldan said, adding: “We are women, we exist with our power, with our own identity.”

Referring to the ongoing peace talks between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Buldan said that women would bring peace to Turkey.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also called on women all across the country to embrace the solution process, through which he said "no more cries of mothers will be heard."

In Kadikoy, another member of the March 8 platform, Zeynep Derya, read out a joint statement saying that women’s right to equal representation in all areas of life should be recognized.

According to information gathered from Turkish press reports by the Istanbul Human Rights Association, 28 women were killed and 38 women were injured by men in January while in February, 24 women were murdered and 17 were injured.

International Women’s Day was born after the labor movements’ activities in the U.S. and Europe at the beginning of twentieth century. 

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Read also:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/international-womens-day-2015-the--shameful-statistics-that-show-why-it-is-still-important-10091504.html?cmpid=facebook-post

International Women’s Day 2015: The shameful statistics that show why it is still important

Violence

Globally, about one in three women will be beaten or raped during their lifetime. About 44 per cent of all UK women have experienced either physical or sexual violence since they were 15-years-old. Britain ranks among the worst countries in Europe when it comes to women being violently abused.

On average, 30 per cent of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence by their partner. One in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

In England, two people are killed every week by a former or current partner. Thirty-eight per cent of all murders of women worldwide are committed by a woman's intimate partner.

A UN report found 99.3 per cent of women and girls in Egypt had been subjected to sexual harassment.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Over 130 million women living in the world today have undergone Female Genital Mutilation, a non-medical practice involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. The procedure is usually carried out without aesthetic.

As many as 24,000 girls are at risk of cutting in the UK. There were almost 500 new cases of FGM identified in English hospitals in November 2014.

Marriage

Around 15 million girls, some as young as eight years old, will be forced into marriage in 2015.

An estimated 1.2m children are trafficked into slavery each year; 80 per cent are girls.

Women in ten countries around the world are legally bound to obey their husbands. In March last year, the UK's only forced marriage and honour-based abuse helpline received a record number calls, stretching capacity so far that some were going unanswered.

Only 76 countries have legislation that specifically addresses domestic violence – and just 57 of them include sexual abuse.

A documentary filmed in India recently saw the rapist of a woman who was brutally gang raped and killed on a Delhi bus blame his victim for the appalling attack: "A girl is more responsible for rape than a boy."

Working rights

In the UK, the gender pay gap stands at 17.5 per cent, with women on average earning £5,000 less a year than their male colleagues.

Globally only a 24 per cent of senior management roles are now filled by women.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission estimates it will take 70 years at the current rate of progress to see an equal number of female and male directors of FTSE 100 companies.

This hurts everyone. The gender gap in certain industries is even more apparent and damaging. Zemach Getahun estimates that closing the gender gap in agriculture could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by up to 17 per cent.

If the skills and qualifications of women who are currently out of work in the UK were fully utilised, the UK could deliver economic benefits of between £15 to £21 billion pounds per year – more than double the value of all our annual exports to China.

Gender discrimination doesn't stop there. Pregnant mothers face even more of challenge when they try and return to the work place, with one in ten of those in low paid work demoted to a more junior role.

This article appeared in its original form in The Independent in March 2014.