174 Global News Post 1: Sexism and Violence against Women
Hikari Nawa
Link to Article:
On November 25, 2021, hundreds of women gathered on the streets of Turkey such as Istiklal Avenue to protest for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, where they were met with police violence. The protestors’ main demands included the country’s rejoining of the Istanbul Convention, stimulated by the country’s decision of withdrawal from it in March. Istanbul Convention is “a legally-binding human rights treaty created by the Council of Europe” that is dedicated to eliminate domestic violence and promote gender equality, which was ratified by 19 countries in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. While the government authorities and the President claim that the domestic legislation is enough and that it is not necessary to rejoin the Convention, the femicide rates have not been improved within the country. The rise in violence against women and the country’s attitude for the issue have sparked the protest, and the response of police to the protest topped the layer on question about the country’s view on women’s rights and gender equality.
Hahn, J. (2021). [A screenshot of a video capturing protestors]. Global Voices. https://globalvoices.org/2021/11/29/in-turkey-women-faced-rubber-bullets-tear-gas-from-police-as-they-marched-to-end-gender-based-violence/
Some evidences used in the article come from the voices of the protestors as well as videos and photos posted on Twitter, while other evidences are drawn from different news articles that are relevant to the topic. The voices on Twitter can be perceived as first-hand resources, but the author of the article can be selective on the posts, which might create bias in reporting the scene. Since many other evidences come from other news articles, there is a possibility that the author has incorrectly interpreted the sources or the news articles used for the evidence are not perfectly accurate.
The perspective of this article criticizes the decision of the President and supports the protestors, almost calling for the rejoining of the convention as an author herself. However, the article lacks the details on the opposite side of the protestors, such as about why Turkey and other countries are drifting away from the Convention. While the article is informational on the event and the background, the overall article could turn out to be argumentative because of the omitted perspective on the actions made by the authorities and the police of the country.