After the terrifying earthquakes, women and girls in Turkey feel aftershocks | Elif Shafak

In Turkey’s southern Hatay province, one of the cities most devastated by recent earthquakes, 25-year-old Elif Altun, a mother of two young children, became homeless in one night, like thousands of others. Having nowhere to go, she agreed to take refuge at her ex-husband’s home, at his urging, on the assumption that it would be safer to stay with the father of her children than alone in a tent or in a building in danger of collapsing.

While she was asleep, her ex-husband allegedly poured hot water over her, yelling at her that she should be grateful he didn’t kill her. She remains in intensive care at a local hospital, with severe burns to her head, face and body. It is one of the many harrowing stories of women and girls in crisis areas.

Women suffer disproportionately in the aftermath of disasters. While tens of thousands of people have lost their homes and jobs, women continue to work ceaselessly in makeshift tents and containers set up for displaced survivors – to find food, try to cook, wash or clean where water is available, and constantly provide food for others. In traditional patriarchal societies, the entire burden of caring for extended families rests with them. According to organizations on the ground, a large number of women have been found dead – and sometimes pulled out alive – in children’s rooms buried under piles of rubble. When the tremors began, they ran to save their children and children. UNICEF says the number of children who died in the quake “is likely to be several thousand”.

There are 356,000 pregnant women throughout the earthquake affected areas. Of those, an estimated 39,000 babies are expected to be born in the coming weeks. For every affected woman and girl, and especially for pregnant women, the lack of toilets and cleaning facilities is a major source of distress.

Growing up in Turkey, I was told many times to keep quiet and be ashamed of the female body, especially menstruation. To this day, one of the common definitions of “dirty” (kerli) in Turkish dictionaries is “a woman who menstruates”. When i was younger, often when i would buy a health product at the market, i would immediately watch the cashier wrap it in an old newspaper, and hide it as if it were a scandal. Once, in Istanbul, a man grocer scolded me when I asked loudly in front of everyone where the products of the period were. He used a word I never forget, shame – shame.

“There are reports from human rights organizations that it is difficult to find a tent or get help if you are a single woman.” Tents for earthquake survivors in Adiyaman, Turkey, February 25, 2023. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

In this sexual culture, earthquake survivors find it very difficult to ask for sanitary pads. There is an assumption that within the broader picture of devastation and destruction, such matters are of trivial concern. They are not. Action Aid said the situation for women, girls and marginalized communities was “becoming increasingly alarming”. In times of war and disaster, the rights and freedoms of women and minorities always become a victim of the “most important and pressing issues” of realpolitik. The humanitarian organization Plan International reports, “Our experience shows that children, especially girls, women and the poorest families, are most at risk of exploitation in a disaster such as an earthquake. Women and children in the disaster area will be at risk of exploitation and abuse, if they find themselves displaced again.”

The LGBTQ+ communities are finding the situation very difficult. Sexual harassment and violence is a growing threat to many who remain vulnerable in homophobic and transphobic environments. There are reports from human rights organizations that it is difficult to find a tent or access assistance if you are a single woman. Hate speech is never far from the surface.

Wars, disasters, and earthquakes also disrupt education. In Turkey and Syria, girls are more likely to be taken out of school. Turkey already has one of the highest rates of child marriage in Europe. However, instead of helping women and minorities by implementing the Istanbul Convention – the treaty designed to combat violence against women – the government headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan has done the opposite, withdrawing from the agreement and targeting both feminists and LGBT activists. Erdogan has repeatedly said that women cannot be equal to men and that gender equality is “against nature”.

Times of crisis bring out the best and the worst in humanity. While we have witnessed a deep outpouring of help and support from civil society, there is a correlation between a lack of democracy, a lack of accountability, high levels of corruption and nepotism in a country, and the amount of suffering caused by natural disasters. The AKP in Turkey under Erdoğan is not only anti-democratic and authoritarian, it is also blatantly macho and misogynistic.

Unfortunately, anti-refugee rhetoric spread in Turkey after this crisis. In Mersin, Syrians staying in a dormitory were kicked out, saying they had to make way for Turkish citizens. Refugees were put on buses and dumped on the streets. Even those who were trying to help in the rescue effort were assaulted in some places. In times of trouble, rather than questioning the inability and structural faults of government, it is easier to turn to the next vulnerable group and weed them out.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Turkey’s border in Iran, the girls are being poisoned. In at least 26 primary and secondary schools, more than 1,000 girls were reported to have been the target of chemical gas attacks. Women and girls have been the leading voice calling for social change, equality and freedom in the country. The courage of Iranian women is remarkable: that is why they are targeted by the regime.

We often hear that the world is currently experiencing multiple crises, and thus relief and aid efforts cannot be expected to last for very long in one place. However, it is possible to look at it from a different angle. Whether in Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran or war-torn Ukraine… As we celebrate International Women’s Day, women, girls and minorities around the world are disproportionately suffering and struggling.

Gender relief efforts are essential to rebuilding better, more just societies. Studies show that when women are given financial aid and psychological support, they primarily use this influence for their families, children, and communities. There has never been a more urgent time for global solidarity, especially global brotherhood. There has never been a more urgent time to say out loud that we can dearly love and care for our country or the countries we adopt and at the same time be citizens of the world, citizens of the human race.

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