Following New Year celebrations at Taksim square, the newspapers were full of pictures and reports of women being sexually harrassed in the crowds. An Australian woman in obvious distress was the focal point of many reports.

The suspected perpetrators were later released by the police after paying a 57 YTL fine (around 33 Euros).

Protests to take place every Friday

On Friday (4 January), around 150 women marched in Taksim in order to protest against sexual harrassment of women, particularly in the public sphere. They plan to march every Friday in the next two months in order to draw attention to this issue.

In a press release, the protesters said: “As women we know that it is enough to be a woman to suffer sexual attacks. Men abuse and attack women sexually not because they are ignorant, perverted or without culture, but because they see themselves as the rightful owners of women’s bodies.”

No complaint should be necessary

The women pointed out that the photographs clearly showed a group of men participating in the assault and that they should have been tried under Article 102 of the Penal Code which deals with sexual attacks. The Istanbul Bar Association said in a statement that if the crime was carried out by more than one person, an investigation needed to be instigated regardless whether the victim filed a complaint or not.

The women further said that pictures of the assault had been circulated in a “pornographic manner” on the Internet; they called on the media and public employees to act more responsibly.

“The state has to protect the right of women to walk in the streets at any time of day they want and dressed any way they want. If state employees do not apply present law and ignore a crime, they encourage assaults, attacks, and the murder of women. We remind Istanbul’s Governor Muammer Güler, who prides himself in his opposition to violence towards women, that the first condition of opposing violence towards women is to do one’s duty and not ignore the law.” (DTD/EÜ/TK/AG)