CHALLENGING PATRIARCHY: A STUDY OF FEMINIST STRATEGIES TO ELIMINATE MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN TURKEY

Abstract

This study explores the feminist campaigns and demonstrations organized between the 1980s and the 2010s in Turkey against male violence. Adopting an intersectional perspective, this analysis draws on statistical data from the Ministry of Family and Social Work and feminist organizations, articles published in national press, reports published by feminist groups and associations, testimonies of feminists, analysis of feminist blogs, as well as publications on social networks. The experiences of the authors of this article, as feminist scholars, are also taken into consideration during the analysis. In order to show how feminist efforts contribute to the resistance against male violence and how the feminist strategies have evolved throughout 4 decades, the article, firstly, sets the context by discussing the structural roots of violence against women; secondly it examines the feminist campaigns and demonstrations throughout the four decades; and finally it explores the roles of the feminist efforts in the resistance against violence by pointing the complexity of the violence and evokes the need for a multidimensional model, which can intervene at individual, interpersonal, and structural levels in order to effectively combat male violence against women.