A NECESSARY CHANGE
A woman called Özgecan Aslan got raped, burned and died because she was the last one in a van with the driver.
A woman who opened a suit to her rapist lose the case because the judge was saying that she didn’t screamed while getting raped.
A woman who had mental illness got raped and the judge said that the rape happened with the woman’s own consent.
Do you know how is it something to be a girl or a woman in Turkey?
Well if you don’t, I am here to explain. Being a girl in Turkey is like feeling insecure in every second of your life. When me and my girlfriends are going to have a subway ride we can’t wear shorts even it is too hot because the man could look at us in a disgustingly. When me and my girlfriends are out we don’t want to be late in outside because there could be man who can rape you. When me and my girl friends go to a busy street we can’t walk by the side streets to make the road short, because if something happens no one can help us.
About one month earlier me and my friend called Jülide were walking in the street. We wore black pants and dark tops. We had makeup on our face and we were walking normally in a sidewalk. The clock was just showing five or six but weather was dark because it was winter.
I was holding a map and we were laughing with Jülide.
“I am professional about this you know,” I said.
She laughed and said “Yes, yes sure that’s why we are still walking,”
Then a bad hatted man with a motorcycle said something to us and beeped his motor. Though we were walking normally on a sidewalk.
Being a girl in Turkey means that you cannot walk in a sidewalk without getting disturbed.
Being a girl in Turkey means that your Prime minister will say that men and women are not equal.
Being a girl in Turkey means that you can be exposed to molestation in every moment in your life just because you are a girl.
Being a girl in Turkey means that your Vice minister will say that women should not laugh in public.
Borning in Turkey changed the way I wanted to live. It made me get scared while I am out in night, walking alone. Living in Turkey made me feel angrier to our government. Living in Turkey made me feel rebel against to the government, to every men beating their wives, to the ones who are nothing but a bad hatted, to the ones who rape their relatives or even their own child. Living in Turkey made me feel nervous in a bus, in a van, or in a subway.
But my family teached to me that I should believe in change and so do I. They made me feel that a change is always possible. Though a change can happen in both bad or good ways. And I am scared that it won’t happen in a good way. But unlikely being a girl in Turkey changed my life, having my family made me believe in change. And I am sure that Turkey needs a change.
In a much more better way probably.
In a way that me and my friend can walk in the streets comfortably.
In a way that our courts can see the truth.
Living in Turkey made me more scared of being a girl. But at the same time it made me more patient about waiting a change, and most importantly living in Turkey made me believe in change.
Name Surname: Selen Öncüloğlu
School: Robert College LP // 5
Country: Turkey
Mail Adress: [email protected]