Violence against women: Time to break the silence: 25 November is not just a date; it is a wake-up call, a call to fight. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is a symbol of resistance to a world where women’s voices are silenced and their bodies, rights and dreams are ignored. Violence against women is neither an individual nor a private matter; it is a blatant reality that corrupts the very foundations of societies, damages the conscience of societies and the dignity of humanity.
The roots of this struggle go back to the murder of the Mirabal sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960, who resisted a cruel dictatorial regime. Their courage and fight for justice and freedom was a turning point for women’s voices to be heard. But that struggle was not over then, nor is it over now. Today, if we look at any country in the Middle East, violence against women in all its forms is reaching unbelievable levels and cannot be prevented. In Iran, for example, a woman can be beaten in the middle of the street for having a strand of hair, or in Afghanistan, a woman can easily lose her life. Or in Palestine, during the war, women and children are the ones who lose their lives the most, disregarding the rules of war; they are the ones who experience war in all its intensity.
Women, the material and spiritual embodiment of society and humanity, are experiencing one of the most serious periods of violence today. As a result of the anti-democratic and repressive regime that has emerged in Turkey, especially after 15 July 2016, the rule of law has been disregarded, democracy has been suspended and, as a result, a massacre has been launched in society. This situation has sometimes resulted in throwing pregnant women into prisons regardless of their special circumstances, taking women who have just given birth out of their beds and taking them to prisons like criminals in dawn raids on the basis of fabricated crimes, arresting mothers with their children or separating the mother from her child even if the child is dying, and detaining with practices that have no place even in the regime’s current law. As a result of the harassment of these people and the pressure put on them, the rest of society is also intimidated. The rest of society is brought into line by the pressure of the legal system on women and children, the most vulnerable members of society.
In the last few days, women and children, from old to young, have been detained and many of them have been arrested and sent to prisons in large-scale operations that continue to be carried out illegally in Turkey. In addition, even elderly women are handcuffed behind their backs and these images are presented to the press; mothers are threatened by their children, children by their mothers and spouses by each other.
In the modern world, violence against women takes on a different dimension. It takes women away from their own nature and presents them as a commodity or the marketing face of a sales product, and even with the cries of emancipation, women are turned into slaves of capital. Materially and morally, women are always subjected to inequality behind the scenes in society or in professional life. The cases of violence against women and femicides, which have taken a terrible turn today, are increasing due to the deterioration of the justice and legal system and the inadequacy of protective laws; societies are completely out of balance with these murders. Femicide is a bleeding wound of our time, to which the whole world urgently needs to find a solution. Millions of women still face violence, oppression and discrimination. In fact, women, who are the guarantors of life and the future, are subjected to a level of violence that shames humanity. Many women still lose their lives simply for being women.
Violence against women is not only physical; any behaviour that limits women’s dreams, rights and freedoms is a form of violence against women. Psychological pressure, economic exploitation, social exclusion, are all invisible chains that rob women of their lives. Breaking these chains is not only the responsibility of the victims, but also of society as a whole. For if even one person remains in the shadow of justice, none of us can be truly free.
25 November is the day to break the silence. Violence thrives not only when it is committed, but also when it is ignored. Every silence, every indifference, every “it’s not my problem” attitude means another woman is lost. But let us see today as an opportunity to break this cycle. Inspired by the courage of the Mirabal sisters, it is time to be a light against this darkness.
A world free of violence against women is not just a dream; it is a goal to be achieved. For this to happen, we need to raise our awareness, raise our voices and increase our solidarity. Because we cannot allow one more woman to lose her life, one more dream to be left unfulfilled, one more future to be darkened. Today is not only a day to remember the victims of violence; it is also a day to take action to be part of the change. Each and every one of us can and must take a step in this fight. Only together can we build a world where violence is not normalised, where all women of the world have equal rights and can live freely.
Solidarity and determination are our most powerful weapons on the road to justice and equality. Let us not forget that violence wins when we remain silent; hope grows when we speak out.
