Day 21

Textile materials for threatened women in southeastern Turkey

Honor killings disguised as suicides: Honor killings disguised as suicides:

Textile materials for threatened women in southeastern Turkey
Day 21
Helping threatened women through financial independence

For over ten years, the city of Batman has had a sad reputation: there are a particularly high number of women who take their own lives here. In 2006, the UN Special Reporter on violence against women traveled through southeastern Turkey. Before and after this trip, there were numerous publications on the subject of "honor killings disguised as suicides". The behavior of women is often closely monitored in the often still very traditional families in southeastern Turkey. If women resist domestic patriarchal violence, they can risk their lives.

Helping threatened women through financial independence
need
Financial alternatives for women at risk
activity
Textile materials are purchased for the textile courses
Measurable performance
Number of textile materials that could be purchased
Result
Number of women who have created their own source of income through the textile courses
Systemically relevant impact
The project is supported by the sale of the products and the women can thus offer other women long-term protection and financial alternatives.
background

Large families, which previously lived in the countryside as patrilineal tribal societies, now continue to practice their traditions in a small space: women represent the honor of the family and are constantly exposed to forms of patriarchal violence due to the local extreme honor code. Many observers are alarmed, as they assume that the suicides are actually honor killings. The government has taken significant steps in recent years to reduce the number of murders. Even though the suicide rate in Batman has decreased, there are still many women who need help to protect themselves from domestic violence.

Day 21 Day 21
The good deed

Financial dependence is one of the reasons why women often endure domestic violence and threats longer than they should. A place of refuge where women have opportunities for further education, such as textile courses, can help them protect themselves from domestic violence.

AboutTurkey
Ankara
Ankara
Capital city
75,627,384 (2012)
75,627,384 (2012)
Population
10,609 US$
10,609 US$
Gross domestic product per capita per year
90
90
Human Development Index (Human Development Index)

Extreme east-west divide, with the east being very neglected and impoverished; extreme underdevelopment especially in the south-eastern part of Turkey.