Mehmet Yaman/ZAMAN/SIPA
– Artist’s Website –
Women in Turkey have begun a social media campaign to share their accounts of sexual harassment and violence in the wake of the brutal murder of a 20-year-old student who was killed after resisting an attempted rape, according to the Turkish news site Hurriyet Daily News.
The death of the young woman, Özgecan Aslan, has created an outcry among women in Turkey — and some men — over violence against women. Dozens of rallies were held across Turkey over the weekend to protest the murder of Aslan and to call attention to the increasing violence against women in Turkey.
See also: How the #YesAllWomen Hashtag Began
Her killing has also become a political issue with opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticizing the government for promoting male-dominant rhetoric, according to a report in the Turkish news site Today’s Zaman.
“This murder is not an isolated incident. […] Five women are killed daily in Turkey,” said Yasemin Yücel, the deputy chairwoman of the Tarsus branch of the Education Personnel Union (Eğitim-Sen), said during a protest in Tarsus.
Thousands of Turkish women are talking about sexual harassment using social media #sendeanlat http://t.co/qNA7LOxr9f pic.twitter.com/vqBJqNNrKm
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) February 16, 2015
Some supporters of Erdoğan’s ruling AK Party, however, have suggested that the attack on Aslan was not unusual or that women were to blame for seeking “sexual freedom” or “wearing miniskirts.”
President Erdoğam himself tweeted about the case on Monday, saying that Asian’s killers “deserve to receive the heaviest punishment” and that he was “going to be a follower of the case itself.”
Beren Saat, a Turkish actress, wrote via Twitter about sexual abuses she faced through the years, according to the Hurriyet Daily News. She recalled running from school after a child “showed me his erect penis” and the time a drunk broadcasting manager “grabbed my butt during the TV channel’s celebration night.”
Bu masum bakış ömür boyu yakanızı bırakmayacak… #ÖzgecanAslan pic.twitter.com/hvcxzY32uq
— Beren Saat (@berensaat) February 15, 2015
Women are using the hashtag #sendeanlat (tell your story) to describe experiences of sexual harassment.
Turkish women are sharing their experiences of sexual harassment using #sendeanlat (Tell Your Story) #ÖzgecanAslan pic.twitter.com/DgeyowMWZz
— BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) February 16, 2015
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the death of Aslan. One suspect, Ahmet Suphi Altındöken, 26, confessed to the murder in testimony to a prosecutor, according to the Hurriyet Daily News. Altındöken reportedly told the police that he tried to rape Aslan, who had boarded the minibus he drove, and stabbed her to death before burning her body when he failed in his attack.
turkey is a country where the chastity of women is measured by the length of their skirt! #sendeanlat #OzgecanAslan pic.twitter.com/M4EqO7AWI5
— Hande AYDIN (@hande_aydin) February 15, 2015
The suspect reportedly told the police that Aslan resisted his rape attempt by hitting him, digging her nails into the back of his neck, and using a tear gas spray.
The brutal murder has spawned another hashtag campaign, #Özgecaniçinsiyahgiy (Wear Black For Özgecan).