In the beginning of the 1990s, feminists began to organize in associations, foundations, cooperatives, and in women’s commissions of the bar associations. Until the 1980s, the number of women’s CSOs was ten, but between 1983 and 1992, it reached up to sixty-four (Diner and Toktaş 2010: 47). The newly built women’s CSOs focused on gender-specific issues such as violence against women, discrimination against women, women’s human rights, women’s solidarity, and women’s shelters. Furthermore, several universities in Istanbul and Ankara launched women’s studies programs. These research units offered not only study programs for students, but also educated women from political parties, trade unions, and women’s CSOs on women’s rights (Arat 2008: 400).
Arguably, the most publicly visible feminist CSO is the ‘Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation’ (Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfı). In 1990, fourteen feminist women in Istanbul, after having studied several women’s shelters and counseling centers in Western Europe, formed the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation to consult women subjected to domestic violence. In its early years, Purple Roof84 activists - predominantly socialist and radical feminists - initiated a 24/7 hours hotline for battered women to call for support and provided legal advice and psychological support through its counselling center.85 Purple Roof opened its first independent women’s shelter in 1995, which lasted until 1998 due to financial difficulties. Within these three years, this shelter provided a secure accommodation for 350 women and 250 children, and the counseling center helped women to overcome their experience of violence and to start a new life.86
Purple Roof has no hierarchy in its organizational structure and makes all decisions collectively, also in its women’s shelter.87 Purple Roof helps women in its shelter to realize that they are equals with women working in the solidarity center, and this gives them a confidence to deal with their own problems (Mor Çatı Bulletin 2010: 3). Because of its long years of
84 From here on, I use ‘Purple Roof’ for the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation.
85 This counselling center was the first one in Turkey, see: Işık (2007).
86 http://www.morcati.org.tr/en/what-are-we-doing/shelters (rev. 15.10.2013)
87 Personal interview with Deniz Bayram, a supporting committee member of Purple Roof and a lawyer specialized on women’s rights, February 2012, Istanbul. Personal interview with Özgür Sunata, a volunteer in the Purple Roof’s solidarity center and a member of another women’s group called “Socialist Feminist Collective”, October 2010, Istanbul.
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experience in fighting against domestic violence, Purple Roof became an internationally recognized CSO. It cooperates with the UN institutions working on women’s rights as well as with the European feminist organizations. Purple Roof activities are partly financed by membership donations, and partly through projects that are funded by EU institutions and foreign consulates in Istanbul.88
Another important feminist organization is ‘Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways’ (Kadının İnsan Hakları Yeni Çözümler Derneği, WWHR), which is formed in 1993. In its initial years, the Istanbul-based WWHR conducted nationwide researches on women’s rights and on the extent of violence against women. These studies stated that women in Turkey were unaware of their legal rights. In 1995, WWHR developed a nationwide program, with the support of the
‘General Directorate of Social Services’ (Sosyal Hizmetler Genel Müdürlüğü), called the ‘Human Rights Education Program for Women’ (HREPW), to enable women to become aware of their legal rights and to empower them.89 Another focus of this project is also to encourage women’s groups to establish their own grassroots organizations for their needs.
WWHR regularly publishes reports on women’s status in Turkey, promotes women’s human rights, and lobbies for legislative changes to strengthen women’s rights and to achieve gender equality. It focuses on different issues such as economic and legal rights of women and girls, women’s sexuality, and reproductive rights. WWHR has a highly organized structure.
There is an executive committee of the organization, who initiates and runs the projects, and the administrative team who manages the finances and public relations.90 Similar to Purple Roof, WWHR also operates in non-hierarchical form and pays attention to equality principle within its organizational structure.91 Moreover, WWHR has strong international ties and networks. It frequently attends the international CEDAW meetings in New York and informs the CEDAW Committee on women’s rights in Turkey. Since 2005, WWHR has hold a consultative status within the ‘Economic & Social Council’ of the UN. WWHR has also close ties with women’s CSOs
88 Sunata from Purple Roof stated that the organization is selective in accepting donations. For instance, in 2003, Purple Roof rejected the donation from the British consulate in Istanbul because the British government was involved in American invasion of Iraq.
89 For more information about the program, see: http://www.wwhr.org/human-rights-education-programme-for-women-hrep/ (all WWHR websites accessed on 21.10.2014)
90 http://www.wwhr.org/office-team/
91 http://www.wwhr.org/our-values-and-priorities/
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from the Muslim world. In 2007, WWHR’s founder and executive director Pinar Ilkkaracan received “the Women’s Rights Award” issued by the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation.92 WWHR’s projects and activities are, to a great extent, financed by grants offered by international and national donors.
The third CSO considered here is the ‘Amargi Women’s Solidarity Cooperative’ (Amargi Kadın Dayanışma Kooperatifi, Amargi) in Istanbul. Amargi, which means ‘freedom’ and ‘return to mother’ in the ancient Sumerian language, was founded in 2001 by a group of radical and social feminists to promote feminism and to pursue feminist politics in Turkey. The founder of Amargi is an internationally-known feminist author Pınar Selek, who has published several books on Kurds, sexual minorities, the poor, and the homeless childrenin Turkey.93 Amargi points to all forms of violence and discrimination prevalent in Turkey and advocates the rights of discriminated groups, especially women, homeless children, ethnic minorities, and homosexuals. The organization emphasizes its anti-militaristic and anti-nationalist character, and believes that the issue of violence can be best resolved by building peace in Turkey.94 Amargi activists work closely with homosexual rights groups and criticize heterosexism, defined as an attitude and a values system that discriminates against homosexuals.
Amargi operates as a feminist academy, and organizes seminars and roundtables on women’s issues. Such activities are partly financed through its bookstore and café. The organization receives funds for its publications from different EU institutions. 95 Like Purple Roof and WWHR, Amargi operates on non-hierarchal grounds and takes decisions collectively. In addition to Istanbul, Amargi is organized almost in ten different provinces in Turkey (Çaha 2008:
41). In December 2012, Amargi-Istanbul was shut down by its own activists by stating: “The decision to close down Amargi is a kind of a self-criticism.We could not reinvent ourselves, take
92 http://www.wwhr.org/category/about-us
93 Between 1998 and 2000, Pınar Selek has been imprisoned with the claim of being a member of the PKK and participating in terrorist attacks in the historical Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. Although Selek was acquitted of the charges several times, she was consistently harassed by the Turkish judicial authorities. In 2013, while doing her doctoral research in France, she has been sentenced to life imprisonment. See further:
http://www.pinarselek.com/public/page.aspx?id=239. (rev. 10.10.2013)
94 Personal interview with Yasemin Öz, a member of Amargi and is an influential activist in the LGBT movement, Istanbul, October 2011.
95 Ibid.
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new actions or develop new perspectives for the feminist struggle.” 96 Since their active period corresponds with the time frame of the study, I do not exclude them from the analysis.
The three feminist CSOs - Purple Roof, WWHR, and Amargi - have transparent structures and are accountable towards women they help. Their activists are, to a great extent, well-educated, middle-class women in their early twenties or thirties. But the founders of these CSOs, who are still active in these organizations, are in their forties and fifties. Some activists describe themselves as ‘radical’ feminist, whereas others as ‘socialist’ or ‘liberal’ feminist. Table 6.2 gives information about their legal status and the year of establishment, the organizational structure, main fields of activity, and financial resources of these three feminist CSOs.
Table (6.2): FEMINIST CSOs
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