Hollywood actresses join Turkish women’s calls for end to domestic violence

ISTANBUL

Hollywood actresses and world-famous celebrities have joined Turkish women’s social media campaign calling for putting an end to domestic violence with the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted, urging other women to join the trend.

The challenge came hot on the heels of a social media trend started by women in Turkey, including celebrities, actresses and journalists, posting black and white photos of themselves in a show of solidarity with women survivors and victims of domestic violence and in support of the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty to combat violence against women.

The social media furor later quickly morphed into a show of female solidarity in the West, albeit without a shoutout to where the campaign most likely originated in Turkey.

Actresses like Jessica Biel and Cobie Smulders were quick to realize the movement may have had a starker importance instead of a simple women’s empowerment trend.

“It took me a sec to catch up and learn what this is really all about. To put it simply – it’s a global reminder for women to support women… especially those whose voices are not being heard (here, and around the world). To the women in Turkey, we stand with you and hear you…” Biel said in a post on Instagram, while making calls for gender-based justice in the U.S. as well.

Grammy-winning singer Christina Aguilera used the hashtag #IstanbulSözleşmesiYaşatır (Istanbul Convention Saves Lives) in the caption beneath her black and white photograph.

Frustrated with the rise in femicides and domestic violence, women in Turkey posted their photos mentioning the importance of the Istanbul Convention after senior government officials said Turkey, the first country to ratify the European treaty in 2012, may withdraw from the convention.

The groundswell of support for the convention comes right after the murder of Pınar Gültekin, a 27-year-old university student murdered in the Aegean province of Muğla by a man who was reportedly her ex-boyfriend.

The We Will Stop Femicides Platform (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu) logged more than 157 deaths at the hands of violent men so far in 2020.