Feminists challenge state of emergency in Turkey

Women protested in Istanbul on Thursday against gender violence and sexual abuse on the occasion of International Women's Day, defying a demonstrations ban imposed by the state of emergency.

Fifty women attended the protest at noon in Besiktas district, carrying placards with feminist slogans and denunciations of violence, Efe news agency reported.

Feminist organisations have called for brief protests on Thursday in 14 cities in Turkey, all in defiance of the rules of the state of emergency, in force since 2016, which prohibits all kinds of marches or demonstrations.

The police monitored the Besiktas protest but did not intervene and the participants dispersed after publicly reading a brief manifesto against gender-based violence.

The group said that 409 women were killed by men in 2017, while in February alone there have already been 47 violent deaths, denouncing that many of the murderers got reduced sentences.

--IANS

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