Sena Dolar

ISTANBUL - The Association of Women’s Time, which held its General Assembly in June, is preparing for the new era. Dilek Başalan, a member of the association, stated that they will strengthen the solidarity against the isolating policies of women and said: ‘’With this awareness, we will make the 21st century the century of women.’’

Announcing its establishment on September 28 last year with the slogan ‘’We are in Women’s Time, against the unequal world, next to freedom’’, the Association of Women’s Time is a women's organization that provides legal and psychological support to all women who have been subjected to violence and guides them to the relevant authorities. The Associaion Women's Time, which operates in Istanbul, is also included in the 2021 Main Congress Secretariat as a component of the Women's Shelters and Counseling Centers Congress. Dedicating its General Assembly on June 26 to Deniz Poyraz, who was killed in the racist attack on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir Provincial Organization, the association began preparations for the new era.

Dilek Başalan, a member of the Association Women's Time, spoke about their plans for the new process in line with the decisions taken at the General Assembly.

Calendar created

Evaluating the General Assembly they attributed to Deniz Poyraz, Dilek said: ‘’We held an internal organizing meeting for more meaningful work. We created a calendar of what we can do. There have been friends who have come to our management and will work with us on a voluntary basis. Although the attacks on women's struggle increased, we had many friends who wanted to be with us on a voluntary basis. As of September, we will have a feasibility study. The Association of Women's Time will now organize neighborhood work. That is our near-term goal.’’

‘We will go to the women neighborhood by neighborhood’

Expressing that they will hold comprehensive seminars on women's health for information purposes, Dilek stated that they will do these events not at the association building, but by going to women. Dilek said: ‘’Whatever neighborhood needs or demands, we will clarify our workshop contents accordingly. We will be on the streets and neighborhoods as of September by planning the topics with friends who want to be with us on a voluntary basis.’’

‘We will produce a policy of solidarity with women’

Noting that they will strengthen their work in the new period with their one-year experience, Dilek said: ‘’We have formed a team that claims to be subjects who want to produce and speak with their practices. Our aim is to produce policies to strengthen solidarity as women against the systematized isolating policies for women. With the topics of women's health and women's rights, neighborhood studies, and the topic of gender equality, the training programs that we will organize in our association at certain periods will contribute to us and all the women we are in contact.’’

‘We will make the 21st century the century of women’

Stating that they aim to be together with all women with their new work, Dilek said: ‘’With the awareness that a new life is the most primary goal for us, we will step into the new era with works that will reveal women's consciousness and power against organized evil and the patriarchal system. If we want to stop femicides and fight against the male mind, we must build a democratic society, a free woman and a free life. With this awareness and belief, we will make the 21st century the century of women.’’

Lastly, Dilek stated that the association is open every day and called: ‘’We welcome all women who want to volunteer to our association and want to partner with us.’’