No women deputies in 45 provinces

During a chat with the head of the Federation of Women Associations, Canan Güllü, she mentioned a glass ceiling in politics. The other day businessperson Demet Sabancı mentioned a “glass ceiling” in business life. It is the glass ceiling that blocks women from rising above a certain point. Unfortunately, that ceiling is always present in the media, in the business world and in academic life. 

In the meantime, we have a grave situation after the last elections. There are no female deputies in 45 Turkish provinces. Canan Güllü said, “There is a general problem of [women] not being able to advance. The reason for this is that political fields are closed to women. There is a glass ceiling. It is a stance that ignores women. Moreover, all the parties are the same. Imagine there are no women deputies in 45 provinces. How can you explain this?” 

You cannot explain it. 

There are 81 provinces in Turkey, but 45 of them have mustaches. They are making women invisible. “The fact that the representation of women is so low, what does that take away from women?” I asked her.

“This is the real issue. The elected women of political parties who cannot come together cannot raise their voices strongly. Actually, they have a weak voice against the male discourse. This comes back as escalating murders, distancing from employment and shying away from entrepreneurship. Sad but true,” she said.

In other words, we want the “provocation reduction” to be abolished and we do not want verdicts ruled in favor of male killers in women’s murders. However, actually the whole issue is wrapped up with the parliament in Ankara. 

As long as we have a mustached parliament, the solution to all of these is difficult.  

‘I loved her; that’s why I killed her’  

I don’t know what to say anymore. Once upon a time we used to joke about it, tease each other with the phrase “I loved her; I killed her” and it has come back after many years as a legal precedent causing a woman murderer to have a lesser sentence. 

This is beyond unacceptable. Can you ever comprehend such a legal precedent for God’s sake? 

TRT artist Hatice Şaşmaz was stabbed to death with 16 blows. She had turned down his (Orhan Munis) proposal; he wanted to see her and while he was leaving for the date with her he took a knife with him. 

This is the peak of absurdity. The guy took the knife with him not because he planned a murder but because he “loved her too much.”

This is like an insult to our intelligence. They are fooling with women, absolutely…

Respectful rapist  

This was the only thing we needed. Now we have a new category of rapists: Respectful rapists. 

Another rapist was granted a reduction in his sentence because of his good conduct in court. And this was attributed to his “respectful stance.” 

As you can see, now we have a new phrase in our legal literature, “a respectful rapist.” 

Do you know who this respectable rapist is? 

He is the man who in 2013 in southeastern Diyarbakır province hit a 14-year-old girl on the head with a stone until she was unconscious, raped her and impregnated her. 

As you can see he is extremely “respectful.”

The satire magazine “Uykusuz” had a cover this week about him and in the cartoon in the magazine it said, “He was so respectable we had to name the street the courthouse is on after him.”

The name of the street is “Rapist Asım Street.”

Imagine, even the Family and Social Policies Ministry protested, saying, “The rapist has been rewarded.”

Violence against women is everywhere

It is everywhere around us, violence against women. 

Edda Sönmez is a journalist. She works at daily Sözcü. She personified battered women on March 8, International Women’s Day, on the podium. 

And then, later, she became a victim. When she posted the photos of her interview with Pascal Nouma on Instagram, her boyfriend, an actor on a popular TV serial, Saruhan Hünel, beat her. It was not the first time. She was beaten five times before. She was given protection for six months. 

There is no difference between the educated and uneducated. I personally would not watch this serial unless Hünel is fired, because it does not matter whether you are a beloved actor or not, he is a city yahoo who can kick a woman.