Female students protest dark roads leading to dorms with flash lamps in Turkey’s north

TRABZON

DHA photo

A group of female students at Karadeniz Technical University have protested the dark roads leading to their dormitories using flash lamps in the Black Sea province of Trabzon. 

The students said the lighting of the road was not sufficient enough and demanded that authorities place streetlights on the road.

Around 20 students gathered in front of the General Directorate of Supreme Education Scholarship and Dormitory Institution’s Trabzon Provincial Directorate at around 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 to shout slogans. “Say stop to abuse from campuses to the provinces,” shouted the students as they also called on Turkey’s Higher Education Credit and Hostels Institution (KYK) to “do what they are supposed to do.” 

“We are not going to leave the streets at night,” read one of the placards.

Speaking on behalf of the students, Türkan Yaylacı said they were afraid to go to their dormitories because the roads are dark. 

“If the authorities don’t answer our demands and continue to ignore us, we will do what they are supposed to do as women. We will be on duty with our flash lamps on the road leading to the dormitory and we will provide our light ourselves,” Yaylacı said, as she added that the authorities “must take the necessary steps immediately.” 

“Dozens of women are being harassed and their lives are threatened every second that the authorities don’t do their duties,” she also said. 

The group announced that they had submitted a petition with the signatures of nearly a thousand students to the KYK and Trabzon Municipality demanding the security measures be increased.