In Germany, International Women’s Day on March 8 brought together people of different religions. Attention was drawn to the injustices faced by women in many parts of the world, especially in Turkey. Immigrants from Turkey and local associations in the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region initiated many firsts. Events were held in collaboration with Germany’s leading Caritas (Social aid organization) association. The events in many locations, particularly in Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, and Duisburg, were both appreciated and reached wider audiences with surprising support.
VEZ-NRW e.V in North Rhine-Westphalia state published a press release in German for International Women’s Day. The statement included important information about the events organized along with a call to end discrimination and violence against women.
WOMEN’S ROLE IN THREE RELIGIONS DISCUSSED
As part of the events, the Initiative Teilhabe und Dialog (Participation and Dialogue Initiative) organized an online program called “The importance of women in religions” in collaboration with representatives of the three Abrahamic religions. The significant observations made by experts on International Women’s Day from a faith perspective were greatly appreciated by participants with their comments.
ROSES GIFTED AND AID PROVIDED TO VICTIMIZED WOMEN
The administrators of the Bochum-Leseclub-Ruhr Association visited the women’s shelter of Caritas, one of Germany’s largest social aid associations, and gifted roses to the women there. The association also made a monetary donation for the women in the shelter. Due to Corona measures, Ms. Langer, the Director of the Caritas Shelter, received the gifts on behalf of the women and expressed gratitude. A similar joint effort took place in Mönchengladbach. There, a joint program was also held with the church. In Remscheid, the women’s shelter was visited and roses were gifted. In the city of Langenfeld, a meaningful visit was made to refugees. Roses and various gifts were given to women staying in camps and social aid houses. The refugee women did not remain indifferent to the visit and meaningful support on the occasion of March 8. They expressed their appreciation for being remembered and for the solidarity visit with emotional statements.
BEING a WOMAN IN TURKEY
Additionally, women’s associations and initiatives in many cities of the North Rhine-Westphalia region organized programs via Zoom, Webinar, and YouTube. In these programs, women from Turkey shared their experiences of injustice and difficult days in prison with the listeners. Bonn-BBC association, Cologne Vera Women’s Association, Hamm Ibuv association, Münster-Webikul Association, Wikult, Dortmund-Sophia-Platform, TDAB Women’s Platform, Plettenberg-Elif e.V Association, Cologne-Ikult Association, Hagen Volme-kf Association, Bochum-Ruhr-Leseclub, and Mönchengladbach women’s associations addressed the theme of ‘Being a woman in Turkey’ with similar organizations. Thus, they contributed to raising awareness on this issue both in Germany and Europe. Also noteworthy was the success of women who had to come to Germany due to the hardships they experienced in Turkey in building a new life. They also shared their success in integration courses and their experiences in establishing a new life after many difficulties in these programs.
WOMEN’S SOLIDARITY WITH SONGS AND POEMS
Volunteers from different women’s associations came together in joint programs. On one hand, they performed meaningful songs and poems for the day and exchanged gifts, on the other hand, they discussed projects they could do together to solve the problems faced by women in many parts of the world. The program particularly highlighted the violence, torture, mistreatment, and unjust arrests that women face in Turkey. The reality of thousands of imprisoned babies and children with their mothers in prisons was shared through video presentations. The Initiative Teilhabe und Dialog in Essen organized a poetry and story competition with prizes for International Women’s Day. The submitted works will be evaluated by a committee and prizes will be presented to the winners next week.
Women’s associations and initiatives in NRW also supported the ‘TAG’ campaign on the social media platform Twitter, organized by the Peaceful Actions Platform, to make women’s voices heard. Women’s Day programs will continue with different events throughout this week. Initiative Teilhabe und Dialog announced that on March 12 at 19:00, 5 women from 5 different countries will make a joint statement on ‘Women’s rights violations and victimization in Turkey’.
In summary, there were very meaningful events beyond ordinary celebrations on March 8, International Women’s Day, all over Germany, especially in the state of NRW, from streets to squares and through many social sharing platforms via the internet. While emphasis was mainly placed on the severe injustices women have recently experienced, it was noteworthy that leading various associations in Germany also participated in and supported the events.
