Thousands of demonstrators in Istanbul marched against violence against women on November 25, 2019 – AHMET SEL / SIPA
“A man must not laugh in public”, “he wore mini-shorts”, “learn to drive” … Many Turkish Internet users sent back Saturday to men the sexist remarks they undergo on a daily basis, a way of ” tackle serious subjects with humor.
A sign of fed up with sexism and endemic violence in a patriarchal society, the hashtag “let men stay in their place” was at the top of the most used on Twitter in Turkey on Saturday.
Committed personalities
“How did he get this job?” He must have slept. Anyway, he is always in skinny jeans, “launched a user, among the many messages addressing sexism at work. “I see men who wear tight mini-shorts, perfume and who laugh on the street. Afterwards, they complain of having been sexually assaulted, “wrote another.
Several personalities, like the singer Sila, as well as the city hall of Istanbul joined the movement. “From 22h, the drivers of our buses will allow men to get off where they want, for their safety,” joked the latter on Twitter, referring to a similar measure implemented for women. This avalanche of messages reflects the growing pressure felt by women in Turkey, where the violence they suffer is a persistent evil.
Government criticized
According to the women’s rights group “We will stop feminicide”, 413 women were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse in 2019 in Turkey. While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often denounces violence against women, feminist associations accuse him of not doing enough to prevent it.
They also accuse Erdogan of trivializing sexism, for example by urging women to have “at least three children” or by declaring that they were “incomplete” before being mothers.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arinç sparked outrage in 2014 when he said that a woman should “not laugh loudly in public”. A widely diverted statement on social media on Saturday: “A man should not laugh loudly in public. He must be modest. “
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