The Foundation for Women’s Solidarity (Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı) is dedicated to combating gender inequality and all forms of gender-based violence since 1993. The Foundation is one of the grantees of the Regional Recovery Support Program, launched under our Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund.
With this support, the Foundation is supporting women against the increasing risks of gender-based violence in Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Hatay, Ankara, and Mersin; holding empowerment meetings for women with social workers, psychologists & lawyers, and distributing hygiene kits.
Please read the following interview with the organisation for an insight into their work.
The Foundation for Women’s Solidarity fights all forms of violence against women and works to strengthen women’s solidarity in the face of violence. Can you tell us about your organisation’s goals and activities?
For the past 30 years, we have been dedicated to fighting violence against women, fostering solidarity, and supporting those who experience violence—all guided by feminist principles. Our women’s counselling centre in Ankara adopts a feminist social work perspective. Here, our focus is not on “helping” but on providing “support and solidarity,” empowering women to confront violence.
We engage in multiple sessions with women, offering a holistic approach to the challenges they face in breaking free from the cycle of violence. These challenges often include issues related to their children’s education, economic difficulties, and the need for safe housing. Understanding their overall circumstances, we help them identify and overcome barriers to building an independent life.
Women often return to us for further support as they face new challenges, demonstrating the powerful impact of our work and the safe, non-judgmental environment we provide.
In addition to social work, our women’s counselling centre offers legal and psychological support. In 2023 alone, we provided social counselling to 317 women, legal support to 137 women, and psychological support to 29 women. Our services extend beyond Ankara; women from various cities across Türkiye and even abroad seek our support.
We also link women to other organisations that can offer additional support and monitor the services provided through ongoing communication. This allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of existing mechanisms to combat violence based on women’s experiences. Women often return to us for further support as they face new challenges, demonstrating the powerful impact of our work and the safe, non-judgmental environment we provide.
Can you tell us about the activities and outcomes of the “Building Solidarity with the Women Affected by the Earthquakes” project that you implemented with the support of our Kahramanmaraş Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund?
With this grant, we organised 13 empowerment meetings across Ankara, Mersin, Diyarbakır, and Adıyaman, involving 387 women. During these meetings, we discussed a range of topics, including the traumatic effects of the earthquakes, women’s experiences, gender roles, violence against women, and sexual and reproductive health, while also using various artistic and cultural tools to support the participants’ well-being. Before each meeting, we contacted local women’s organisations to find out their current needs. During the meetings, we distributed brochures with detailed information about male violence against women and existing support mechanisms.
Alongside these meetings, we provided support to nearly 700 women through our counselling centre, with the help of the grant. Our social workers worked effectively to address women’s urgent needs. We also updated the brochures used in our counselling centre to ensure that the information provided was up-to-date and relevant.
We saw gender roles become more rigid and violence against women intensify, highlighting the importance of developing long-term strategies for disaster and emergency response.
Through our fieldwork following the 6 February earthquakes, we once again saw how such disasters affect women’s lives in many ways. We found that women were struggling with issues such as safe housing, access to healthcare, and social support, which we shared with other women’s organisations through our networks.
We also found that the earthquakes had exacerbated violence against women, as reported by the women who sought help from our counselling centre. This reinforced the importance of continuing to focus our work on disaster and emergency preparedness and intervention strategies. Our project activities highlighted the critical need to develop emergency preparedness and response strategies to prevent violence and support women, which is vital to ensure gender equality in such circumstances.
How did the work in the disaster area differ from your previous experience in combating violence against women? Did you gain new insights through this project?
Our work in the disaster areas and in areas hosting displaced people has been a new learning curve for us. We gained a deeper understanding of how the traumatic effects of the earthquakes affected women’s lives. As we dealt with the aftermath of the earthquakes, we saw gender roles become more rigid and violence against women intensify, highlighting the importance of developing long-term strategies for disaster and emergency response.
This grant also allowed us to work more closely and effectively with local women’s organisations in addressing women’s urgent needs. We observed how powerful arts and cultural tools can be in empowering women. These experiences gave us valuable insights into better responding to needs in disaster settings. They reinforced the importance of developing more holistic and interactive approaches to addressing violence against women in disaster-affected areas.
Thanks to your support, we’ve collectively contributed to empowering women and helping them build lives free from violence.
What are your future plans and priorities for the Foundation for Women’s Solidarity? How has our grant support affected your future goals?
One of our primary goals is to continue the work of our women’s counselling centre, a critical mechanism in combating violence against women. Alongside this, we aim to maintain our monitoring and reporting activities to continue gathering data on male violence in Türkiye. The projects we’ve implemented with Turkey Mozaik Foundation’s support have allowed us to advance our goals strategically. Additionally, this grant has enhanced our ability to work in disasters and emergencies and helped us develop comprehensive approaches to these issues.
Do you have a message for the supporters of our Fund?
Thanks to your support, we’ve collectively contributed to empowering women and helping them build lives free from violence. This support is vital not only to our work, but to all women’s organisations. Our fight to prevent violence against women, empower women to stand up to male violence, and achieve gender equality is made more effective by your contributions. Every donation helps women to build a safer and stronger future.
