‘If I can not dance, it is not my revolution.’ Emma Goldman
İstanbul has always been on the forefront of women’s liberation in Turkey even before the establishment of Modern Turkish Republic. We know from the research of feminist academics that there were women’s magazines, newspapers, Women’s Associations and even a Women’s Party during the late Ottoman Era where women fought for right to education, right to divorce their husbands, to work, to inherit, to get rid of the veil, to object polygamous marriage and to have a say in politics. It is a delight to read the articles of early feminists in the magazines they published expressing their need for freedom to choose their husbands, not to wear the veil and to share their country as equal human beings with men.
The members of the first feminist organisation established in İstanbul during the Ottoman Era
The first women’s magazine printed in İstanbul by Ottoman Women in 1886
Front cover of the Ottoman Women’s Magazine titled ‘World of Women’
First female government officers in 1913
Turkish female writer Halide Edip Adıvar was the head of the Women’s Empowerment Association established in the Ottoman Era. Later she became the head of the English Literature Department in İstanbul University
Still, İstanbul is on the forefront of feminist activism and there is always a huge parade that gathers in İstiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu in the evening of March 8th for the celebration of the International Women’s Day!
Here are some photos that show you the exuberance of the masses in İstanbul parading on this special day dedicated to the equality and liberation of women!
It says ‘we are strong together’
So if you are in İstanbul, don’t miss the chance of being part of this exciting event.
Have a glimpse at the parade on 8th of March, 2018 filmed by Time in order to see the energy of the masses in İstanbul.
Note that İstanbul is the city where Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence was opened to signature on May 11, 2011. The convention is better known as the Istanbul Convention. It is a human rights treaty opposing violence against women and domestic violence, aiming to prevent violence against women, protect victims and to end the impunity of perpetrators.
