Vigilante Violence against Women in Turkey: A Sociological Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v19i2.277Keywords:
vigilantism, violence against women, backlash politics, body, TurkeyAbstract
This study examines one of the disturbing political developments over the last years and one that has not received scholarly attention: the rise of vigilantism against women in Turkey. Building on the empirical data on vigilante incidents, I show that vigilantism in Turkey is an exclusively masculine practice carried out by individual men or small groups of men who, calling upon a moral order or higher moral sovereignties, target nonpious-looking women navigating the public places in densely populated big cities. By locating vigilantism in the larger dynamics of gender politics, I argue that vigilantism delineates the emergent dynamics of the current backlash against women’s agency in Turkey, a backlash that manifests itself as a masculinist enforcement of morality in public.
References
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Laf attı, boğazında sigara söndürdü, serbest kaldı.(2017, May 16). Cumhuriyet Gazetesi. Retrieved from www.cumhuriyet.com.tr.
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Mansbridge J. & Shames S.L. (2008). Toward a Theory of Backlash: Dynamic Resistance and the Central Role of Power. Politics & Gender, 4(4): 623-634.
Moncada, E. (2017). Varieties of Vigilantism: Conceptual Discord, Meaning and Strategies. Global Crime, 18(4): 403-423.
Eminönü’de bir kadına kıyafeti bahanesiyle sözlü saldırı: “Milleti azdırıyorsun.” (2016, June 29). Yarın Haber. Retrieved from www.yarinhaber.net.
Newson J. (1993). “Backlash” against feminism: A disempowering metaphor, Resources for Feminist Research, 20(3/4): 93-97.
Nişanlısı şort giydi diye Nişanlısı şort giydi diye genç kadını darp ettiler. (2017, July 17). CNNTURK. Retrieved from www.cnnturk.com.
Skeggs B. (2004). Class, self, culture. London: Routledge Press.
Sullivan S. (2006). Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Tharoor I. (2018, January 30). How Anti-feminism is Shaping World Politics. Washington Post. Retrieved from www.washingtonpost.com.
Tolnay S.E. & Beck E. (1995). A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Trabzon'da `epilasyon dinimize aykırı` saldırısı. (2016, October 21). Sputniknews. Retrived from www.tr.sputniknews.com.
Walby S. (1997). Backlash to feminism, Gender Transformations, 156-65.
Yılmaz S. (2015). A New Momentum: Gender Justice in the Women’s Movement. Turkish Policy Quarterly, 13(4): 107-115.
Young I.M. (1980). Throwing like a girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality. Human Studies, 3(1): 137-156.
Asena Melisa Sağlam yalnız değildir. (2018, March11). Haber Türk Hayat. Retrieved from www.hthayat.haberturk.com.
Avakame E.F. (1999). Females’ Labor Force Participation and Rape: An Empirical Test of the Backlash Hypothesis. Violence Against Women, 5(8): 926-949.
Bailey W.C. & Peterson R.D. (1995). Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women: The Case Of Murder. In Hagan J. & Peterson R.D. (Eds.), Crime and Inequality. California: Stanford University Press: 174-205.
Başbakan Binali Yıldırım'dan `şortlu kadına saldırı `yorumu. (2016, September 22). CNNTURK. Retrieved from www.cnnturk.com.
Browne V. (2013). Backlash, repetition, untimeliness: the temporal dynamics of feminist politics, Hypatia, 28(4): 905-920.
Bursaray’daki taciz ve tehdit iddiasıyla ilgili gözaltına alınan kişi serbest. (2016, September, 26). Bursada Bugün. Retrieved from www.bursadabugun.com.
Charney C. (1991). Vigilantes, Clientelism, and the South African State. Transformation, (16): 1-28.
Chin Y.M. (2012). Male Backlash, Bargaining, or Exposure Reduction? Women’s Working Status and Physical Spousal Violence in India. Journal of Population Economics, 25(1): 175-200.
Cudd A. (2002). Analyzing Backlash to Progressive Social Movements. In Superson A.M. & Cudd A. (Eds.) Theorizing Backlash: Philosophical Reflections on the Resistance to Feminism. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield: 3-16.
Erdoğan: ‘Erkek kız aynı bankta oturursa..’ (2013, June 2). Sözcü Gazetesi.
Evinde şort giydiği için apartman yöneticisine şikayet edildi. (2017, September 6) Sözcü Gazetesi. Retrieved from www.sozcu.com.tr.
Faludi S. (1991). Backlash: The Invisible War against America’s Women. New York: Crown.
Forrester K. (2017, February). Libidinal Politics. Harper’s Magazine. Retrieved from https://harpers.org/archive/2017/02/trump-a-resisters-guide/5/.
Grzyb M.A. (2016). An Explanation of Honour-Related Killings of Women in Europe through Bourdieu’s Concept of Symbolic Violence and Masculine Domination. Current Sociology, 64(7): 1036-1053.
Gündüz-Hoşgör A. & Smits J. (2008). Variation in Labor Market Participation of Married Women in Turkey. Women's Studies International Forum, (31): 104-117.
Ilkkaracan P. (2007). Reforming the Penal Code in Turkey: The campaign for the reform of the Turkish Penal Code from a gender perspective. Institute of development studies. Retrieved from http://www.kadinininsanhaklari.org/static/yayin/wwhr/reformingPenalCode.pdf.
Inglehart R. & Norris P. (2016, July 29) Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash. HKS Working Paper No. RWP16-026. Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=2818659.
İstanbu'da bir markette 'Düzgün yürü' diyen erkek, 53 yaşındaki kadına saldırdı. (2016, October 20). Siyasi Haber. Retrieved from www.siyasihaber3.org.
İpek Atcan'a metroda tekmeli saldırı. (2016, November, 29). Hürriyet Gazetesi.
İzmir’de tacize uğrayan kadını döven polis hakkında soruşturma başlatıldı. (2017, August 13). T24. Retrieved from www.t24.com.tr.
Kabeer N. (1999). The Conditions and Consequences of Choice: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. UN Research Institute for Social Development, DP No. 108.
Kandiyoti D. (2010). Gender and Women’s Studies in Turkey: A Moment for Reflection. New Perspectives on Turkey, (43): 165-176.
Kandiyoti D. (2016). Locating the Politics of Gender: Patriarchy, Neo-liberal Governance & Violence in Turkey. Research and Policy on Turkey, 1(2): 103-118.
Keyder C. (2005). Globalization and social exclusion in Istanbul, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29 (1): 124-134.
Kloos D. (2014). In the name of syariah? Vigilante Violence, Territoriality, and Moral Authority in Aceh, Indonesia. Indonesia, 98: 59-90.
Korkman Z. (2016). Politics of Intimacy in Turkey: A Distraction from ‘Real’ Politics? Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, 12(1): 112-121.
Laf attı, boğazında sigara söndürdü, serbest kaldı.(2017, May 16). Cumhuriyet Gazetesi. Retrieved from www.cumhuriyet.com.tr.
Levine, B. E. (2017, July 4) Presidential Misogyny: From Jefferson to Trump. CounterPunch Magazine. Retrieved from www.counterpunch.org.
Lipset, S. M., & Raab E. (1978). The Politics of Unreason: Right-wing Extremism in America, 1790–1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Mansbridge J. & Shames S.L. (2008). Toward a Theory of Backlash: Dynamic Resistance and the Central Role of Power. Politics & Gender, 4(4): 623-634.
Moncada, E. (2017). Varieties of Vigilantism: Conceptual Discord, Meaning and Strategies. Global Crime, 18(4): 403-423.
Eminönü’de bir kadına kıyafeti bahanesiyle sözlü saldırı: “Milleti azdırıyorsun.” (2016, June 29). Yarın Haber. Retrieved from www.yarinhaber.net.
Newson J. (1993). “Backlash” against feminism: A disempowering metaphor, Resources for Feminist Research, 20(3/4): 93-97.
Nişanlısı şort giydi diye Nişanlısı şort giydi diye genç kadını darp ettiler. (2017, July 17). CNNTURK. Retrieved from www.cnnturk.com.
Skeggs B. (2004). Class, self, culture. London: Routledge Press.
Sullivan S. (2006). Revealing Whiteness: The Unconscious Habits of Racial Privilege. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Tharoor I. (2018, January 30). How Anti-feminism is Shaping World Politics. Washington Post. Retrieved from www.washingtonpost.com.
Tolnay S.E. & Beck E. (1995). A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Trabzon'da `epilasyon dinimize aykırı` saldırısı. (2016, October 21). Sputniknews. Retrived from www.tr.sputniknews.com.
Walby S. (1997). Backlash to feminism, Gender Transformations, 156-65.
Yılmaz S. (2015). A New Momentum: Gender Justice in the Women’s Movement. Turkish Policy Quarterly, 13(4): 107-115.
Young I.M. (1980). Throwing like a girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality. Human Studies, 3(1): 137-156.
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Published
2017-10-10
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Sarıoğlu, E. (2017). Vigilante Violence against Women in Turkey: A Sociological Analysis. Kadın/Woman 2000, Journal for Women’s Studies, 19(2), 51–68. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v19i2.277
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