Strategies of discrediting: attacks on feminist activists in Turkey

ABSTRACT The Istanbul Feminist Night March has been organised since 2003, and it has the distinction of being the most participatory feminist protest organised in Turkey. As the space for civil society in Turkey shrinks, feminists are the only dissident group that continue to take to the streets. However, the Feminist Night March has been banned by either the governor or the police under the pretext of ‘non-permitted places for protests’ in recent years. Despite the ban, hundreds of women gathered each year, but the intensity of the police violence escalated, and several cases have been taken to court against protestors since 2021. These attacks on feminist activists and the Feminist Night March take place against the backdrop of multiple attacks on women’s rights and gender equality in Turkey, which is symbolised in Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. In this article, the attacks on the March and activists will be discussed within the framework of how the Turkish government attempts to discredit feminists and feminist protest to achieve their anti-gender and family-oriented agenda.