On March 8, we take to the streets for equality
In a statement by the Left Feminist Movement, which has declared 2025 as the 'Year of Women' in response to the AKP’s designation of it as the 'Year of the Family,' it was stated: “We are expanding our struggle for equal citizenship and freedom against policies that try to show us the way back home.”
İlayda SORKU
Women are once again filling the streets and squares on March 8. Coming together across Turkey with demands for equality, freedom, and the right to live, women are raising their voices against the AKP government’s anti-women policies, its decision to withdraw from the İstanbul Convention, the increasing number of femicides, poverty, and the deepening gender inequality.
In a statement, the İzmir Left Feminist Movement emphasized that they are strengthening the struggle this March 8, asserting their defence of women's presence in public spaces against the "family" policies imposed by the AKP government.
In their statement, they declared: “As with all fascist regimes, the AKP government is attacking the gains women have achieved through struggle. The unlawful withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention has proven that femicides are political. With policies that refuse to see women as individuals and instead confine them to the family unit, they are attempting to seize our economic independence and rights. However, as we have for years, we are once again taking to the streets with our rebellion against patriarchy and capitalism.”
Women are raising their demands for secure employment, equal pay, public nurseries, and parental leave in opposition to the government’s “Year of the Family” initiative, which seeks to confine women to traditional roles, strip them of economic independence, and curtail their social rights. In a statement to BirGün, İzmir Left Feminist Movement emphasized that through flexible work models, the AKP is pushing women into precarious, low-wage jobs, deepening women’s poverty. They stressed that achieving economic independence and protecting social rights are fundamental pillars of the struggle for gender equality.
ATTEMPT TO COVER UP
The statement emphasized that since the withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention, femicides have increased, and perpetrators are being rewarded with impunity. It stated: “Women’s hard-won rights are being systematically eroded, and women are being condemned to violence, poverty, and domestic confinement.”
Additionally, the statement highlighted that the flexible work models included in the 12th Development Plan restrict women's economic independence. It noted: “As women's poverty deepens, the sanctification of the family is being used as a means to cover up this reality.”
MISOGYNY
The statement highlighted the Diyanet’s fatwas that confine women to the family and its emphasis on "family roles," stressing that “the struggle for secularism is the foundation of women’s fight for equal citizenship.”
On March 8, women will also take to the streets against war policies, deepening poverty among women, and attacks on LGBT+ individuals. The statement also called for action against the unresolved security and hygiene issues faced by women living in temporary shelters after the earthquake and the burden of caregiving being placed solely on women.
The declaration concluded with the following: “In response to this reactionary and fascist siege, we, as women, declare this year proclaimed as the 'Year of the Family' by the AKP government as the 'Year of Women.' Against policies that seek to send us back home, we are expanding our struggle for equal citizenship and freedom in public spaces, in workplaces, in the streets, and everywhere.”
PROTEST SCHEDULE BY CITY
Women are once again taking to the streets across Turkey on this March 8 to defend their lives, rights, and freedoms. Here is the March 8 protest schedule for the Aegean Region:
- İZMİR – 19:00, Eski Leman Kültür/Penguen Kitabevi Önü (Feminist Night March)
- AYVALIK – 17:00, Öğretmenevi Önü
- BALIKESİR – 14:00, Salih Tozan Kültür Merkezi Önü
- BODRUM – 17:00, Tepecik
- BURHANİYE – 13:30, Eski Kütüphane Önü
- ÇANAKKALE – 15:30, Eski Salı Pazarı/Eğitim Fakültesi Yanı
- ÇANAKKALE – 19:30, Golf Çay Bahçesi
- DATÇA – 14:00, Demokrasi Evi Önü
- DATÇA – 19:30, PTT ÖnüDENİZLİ – 17:30, Atatürk Parkı
- DİKİLİ – 13:00, Bülent Ecevit Meydanı
- EDREMİT – 14:30, Migros Önü
- GÖMEÇ – 11:30, Saadettin Baycan Parkı
- KUŞADASI – 18:00, Bülent Ecevit Parkı
Note: This article is translated from the original Turkish version titled 8 Mart’ta eşitlik için sokaktayız, published in BirGün newspaper on March 7, 2025.
