Leyla Soydinç, who has voluntary and professional experience in the fields of combating violence against women and mental trauma in both local governments and non-governmental organizations, explained that the distinction of feminist experience should be underlined in the fight against violence against women. The speaker stated that the
systematic dimension of violence should be emphasized, considering that women from very different origins can be subjected to the same violence even in cases where they are socio-economically privileged. Leyla Soydinç has evaluated the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation, which was established in 1990, in the context of the emergence of 2. Wave feminism in 1980s -first in consciousness raising groups in the big cities of Turkey-, then its diversification in 1990s and its evolution into 3. Wave Feminism. Accordingly, she stated that the
Feminist March Against Beating organized by feminists in 1987 should be seen as a turning point in the search and demand for mechanisms to combat violence against women.
Emphasizing the importance of developing a feminist approach in working with women who are survivors of violence, Leyla Soydinç said that the dynamics of violence were first discussed with women who applied to their centers within consciousness-raising groups. Stating that a non-hierarchical, eye-level relationship is established with women who are exposed to violence, Soydinç argued that shelters should not be seen as a place of shelter in this sense, but as a place where women can access the support and resources they need and initiate
their empowerment process.
Stating that the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation aims to produce policies and develop a feminist intervention in the existing policies by working like a pressure group in the fight against violence, Soydinç explained that the
Istanbul Convention actually constitutes a guarantee of all gains in this sense and envisages the effective role of the state in the fight against violence against women. Soydinç emphasized that the state's family-oriented social policies put violence against women in the background. In this context, she states that reliable data and statistics on women who were exposed to violence could not be reached by women’s organizations.
Underlining that the perpetrators are encouraged, Soydinç noted that the impunity encourages men even more in the legal processes in which cases of violence against women are heard, and that the rates of crimes against women both have increased in real terms in the last 10-15 years, and but also that these violations have become more visible as a result of public awareness.
Different topics ranging from the organizational culture of the Feminist Struggle to the 2nd and 3rd wave feminisms, from the Istanbul convention to the dynamics of local governments and non-governmental organizations in the fight against violence against women were addressed in the meeting. The activity was attended by the students of the Social Work Turkish and English and Sociology departments, as well as by academicians from different Faculties of Gelisim University, such as Ass. Prof. Nurten Elkin, Ass. Prof. Derya Kavgaoğlu, Ass. Prof. Yonca Güneş Yücel, Ass. Prof. Emrah Tuncer, Ass. Prof. Ayşe Aydın, Dr. Betül Çolak, Lecturer Fatma Sıla Ayan and other faculty members.
