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#ChallengeAccepted in Turkey

Jan. 04, 2021   •   sakshi arya

Introduction

Over the past few weeks, social media platform, Instagram, has been flooded with pictures of women in ‘Black-and-White’ filter, with the caption “ #ChallengeAccepted ”. This movement symbolizes unity amongst women and spreads awareness that women stand against the cruelty and injustice they face as a result of patriarchy. As of today, there are more than six million images on Instagram under the hashtag, “challenge accepted”. As a part of this campaign, women post their pictures in black-and-white and nominate other women to do the same. The origin of this movement is unknown, while some users think of it as a movement in support of the ‘brutal femicides’ happening in Turkey, others think of it as a movement to support the ‘Black Women’.

The challenge which now has more than six million women involved in it, is believed to have risen when a 27 year student from Turkey was brutally killed by her ex-boyfriend. This incident sparked the outrage across the country. The Turkish women activists took to the streets in order to express their rage against the ever increasing femicides in the country. There is also speculation that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent speech in the House of Representatives, in which she called out Representative Ted Yoho for making sexist remarks against her, might have led to an increase in social media posts emphasizing female empowerment.

Plight of the Turkish women

When we refer to turkey, the things which come in our mind are - its rich heritage sites, its alluring landscapes, the marvelous mosques, the famous mouth-watering delicacies and what not. Located partially in Asia and partially in Europe, the nation has 98% of Muslim population. As compared to all the Islamic nations, Turkey was once considered to be a secular nation. The nation has an emerging market economy as defined by the International Monetary Fund. Turkey is among the world's developed countries according to the CIA World Factbook. Economists and Political scientists define Turkey as one of the world's newly industrialized countries. Mesmerizing ,isn’t it? Yes, but what we don’t see here is the plight of the Turkish women.

A recent incident of the killing of 27-year-old student, ‘Pinar Gültekin’ by her ex-boyfriend has sparked an outrage in the women of the nation. The 27 year old was beaten and strangled to death by the accused. He then tried burning the corpse in a nearby forest. After failing to do so, he disposed of her corpse in a bin, which he then filled with concrete. Violence against the females is NOT uncommon in Turkey however; this incident shook the women of the nation and a fire of ‘rebel’ was sparked amongst them. The activists took to the streets in order to express their anger at the state of affairs. The Turkish women seek Governments intervention and stricter laws towards women hate-crime.

Turkish President, ‘Recep Tayyip Erdogan’ took to Twitter, a day after the brutal murder of the 27 year old girl. He wrote: "Yesterday, we were overwhelmed with pain when we had to learn that Pinar Gültekin was murdered by a villain. I despise all crimes committed against women." Many women’s' right activists, however, say the president's words ring hollow and are nothing but mere hypocrisy. Such claims of the activists can be backed by the fact that, women are being killed every day in Turkey.

Since 2010, more than 1000 women have been murdered either by their partners or their close male relatives. A devastating incident took place in May 2018, the murder of 23-year-old ‘Sule Cet’. The young woman was brutally raped in the office by her boss and of her colleague, and then thrown out of the window. The men told the police afterward that Cet had taken her own life. The incident followed similar kind of protest to increase the pressure on the government, hoping that, stricter laws would be made in order to stop this crime. But in 2019, the toll of the ‘sex-based’ crime rose above 430, which was the highest of the decade. In July 2020, alone, more than 40 women have been murdered on account of ‘hate-crime’, which is a result of patriarchy in the society.

Not only murders, but, the Turkish women are often found as the victims of ‘physical’ and ‘verbal’ abuse. The reason of this abuse most of the times, is the choice of the dress they put on. The women are often beaten up in public by strangers on not covering their bodies. Imagine a nation as developed and admirable as Turkey, not allowing freedom to women on what to wear! All of its developments as a nation are useless, if the women of the nation are frequently subjected to injustice and cruelty!

In order to spread awareness and unity amongst the women, many social-movements have taken place. One such movement is the “#Challenge Accepted”. As a part of this campaign, women post their pictures in black-and-white on Instagram and nominate other women to do the same. The women in Turkey, wake up almost every day, seeing black-and-white photo of a women being murdered, in televisions and newspapers . Social media users believe that posting a similar picture on Instagram symbolizes that this crime must end soon, otherwise, any women can be a subject to it.

Let’s hope this movement brings a revolution in the crime faced by the women by spreading awareness about it and pressurizing the Government to impose stricter laws, not only in Turkey, but all over the world.

Conclusion

The “#Challenge Accepted” movement was started in order to empower women all around the globe. Although the origin of the movement is unknown, but users believe that it was started in order to increase the awareness of the growing femicide in Turkey. the brutal murder of a 27 year old student by her ex-boyfriend further added to this movement.

[Nakshatra Bhasin is a second-year law student of Amity Law School, Noida.]


Explained: Why women are sharing black-and-white photos of themselves on social media, The Indian Express. August 02, 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-are-women-posting-black-and-white-selfies-on-social-media-6529418/


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