Violence against women hotline posters displayed across Turkey

ISTANBUL

Posters displaying information on a free hotline offering counselling and help to women subjected to violence have been hung on 50 billboards across the country. 

The role of municipalities in supporting this poster campaign, started by daily Hürriyet in 2007 and handed over to the Turkish Women’s Organizations Federation in 2015, is big, Canan Güllü, the organization’s head, said on Feb. 8. 

“Working collectively is crucial in the work on violence against women,” Güllü said. 

By accepting the organization’s request to display the helpline posters, the Ankara Municipality has taken an important step in this regard, Güllü added. 

“Victims can get information on the judicial process and where to go [following the abuse] from the numbers 0212-656-9696 and 0549-656-9696,” she said. 

Another goal the organization is working to achieve under the campaign is to get the municipality consultation lines to use the organization’s hotline. 

“We carried out a similar project in Istanbul’s Beylikdüzü Municipality,” she said. 

“We will be able to watch the rate of violence throughout the months [using this line],” Güllü added.

Turkey has a staggering reputation for violence against women. In 2017 only, a total of 409 women were killed in the country, most of them by their violent husbands, partners or male family members.