Violence Against Women: Turkish Police Attack Female Protesters

Turkish police have been reported to attack female protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets on Thursday as they take to the streets of Istanbul to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The protest came amid calls for the country to rejoin the Istanbul Convention, an agreement to protect women. Turkey was the first country to sign the convention and also became the first to withdraw. Turkish women have held mass protests twice over the withdrawal, one in March and another in July.

It was claimed that the Istanbul Convention was the product of work by women’s right activists in Turkey and that many women in Turkey hardly believe the government’s claims in protecting them after the country’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

Hundreds of women gathered for the protests under the eyes of riot police as the protesters chanted slogans calling for the country’s president, Erdogan to step down, alongside placards calling for the Istanbul Convention to be rejoined.

As the protesters continued the protests, the nation’s police masked behind barricades with water cannon trucks and buses to transport captured ones. They were armed with rubber guns and tear gas canisters. The police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters as the rifts continued for nearly half an hour.

The county’s women protested for the protection of the females as according to the 'We Will Stop Femicide Platform' at least 285 Turkish women have been killed by men so far in 2021.