EŞİK marks 6th anniversary with Istanbul Convention message: We will not give up our rights

EŞİK – The Women's Platform for Equality (Eşitlik İçin Kadın Platformu) issued a written statement noting that August 1st marks both the platform's anniversary and the day the Istanbul Convention entered into force for Turkey. On its 6th anniversary, the platform declared that it will continue its struggle for women's right to life, equal citizenship, and a life free from violence.

The statement recalled that EŞİK was founded on August 1, 2020, during a period when attacks on the hard-won rights of women and LGBTI+ individuals were intensifying. The platform stated that independent women's organizations, which had come together to oppose attempts to grant amnesty to perpetrators of child sexual abuse, formed a broader solidarity network following the targeting of the Istanbul Convention.

EŞİK noted that it continues to maintain a horizontal and non-hierarchical organizational structure with the participation of women from different cities, generations, and backgrounds of struggle in Turkey. The statement recorded that the founding of the platform was "not just the establishment of a new platform, but a new way of organizing the decades-long struggle of the Turkish women's movement."

The platform emphasized that the Istanbul Convention is a fundamental human rights treaty that imposes obligations on states to prevent, protect, investigate, prosecute, and develop holistic policies to protect women from violence. EŞİK also recalled the legal battle being waged in the Council of State (Danıştay) against the decision to withdraw from the convention.

The statement noted that the cases at the Council of State are being followed by over a thousand women lawyers with power of attorney, and expressed that this process is a struggle to defend not just a convention, but women's right to life, the principle of equal citizenship, the rule of law, and democracy.

EŞİK argued that the Istanbul Convention remains in force under Article 90 of the Constitution, Law No. 6284, and the Ratification Law No. 6251. Pointing to the principle of "non-retrogression" in human rights law, the platform stated that states cannot enact regulations that would eliminate hard-won rights that guarantee women's equality and right to life, or that would lower the level of protection.

The statement alleged that femicides, suspicious deaths of women, and violence against women have increased following the decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. The platform argued that family- and population-focused policies, attempts to weaken the fundamental principles of the Civil Code, and debates regarding alimony rights threaten women's rights.

In its message, EŞİK stated, "We will not give up defending women's right to life, secularism, equal citizenship, the social democratic state of law, and the Istanbul Convention." The platform noted that women's solidarity is one of the strongest guarantees of the struggle for equality.

News Source: 12punto