Turkish women's rights activists decry racism in their name
Dozens of Turkey’s grassroots women rights groups issued a statement against racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, only to face angry reaction from many parts of the political spectrum.
Turkish women's rights groups have decried racism on their behalf in a show of solidarity with refugees.
In a May 22 statement signed by dozens of women's rights groups, Women Defense Network denounced the rising anti-refugee sentiment which has been fueled by “unverified” videos and “targeting immigrants as perpetrators of harassment, rape, abuse and violence.” It also raised a red flag about the dangers of spreading unverified video clips. The statement was in response to videos on Tiktok reportedly shot by refugee men, which have further fueled the already high anti-refugee sentiment in the country over the past weeks.
Although anti-immigrant rhetoric is framed around women’s safety, "We stand up against male violence. Women in this country do not feel safe, that is the problem,” Cagla Akdere from the Women’s Defense Network told Al-Monitor. “Refugees, migrants, poor, or uneducated are not the reason for female insecurities. Providing safe lives for women does not mean encouraging or normalizing racism."
The signatory groups and activists have come under fire on social media platforms following the release of the statement, with some posts including misogynistic, threatening, demeaning language.
