İZMİR - Gizem Coşkun, a member of Halkevleri (community centers), stated that they ensure that women’s awareness develops in feminist self-defense workshops.

 

As women gather in İzmir Gültepe Halkevi (Community center) for various activities such as drama, chat, reading, one of the most popular workshops of the community center is self-defense workshop. The community center member Gizem Coşkun also attends this workshop and she said the women’s awareness would emerge with women’s solidarity. Expressing that the women’s problems intensify due to misogynist policies of the ruling power, Gizem said that self-defense is the basis for the development of women’s awareness.

 

Expressing that the most women working at home participate in the workshop, Gizem said they tried to find the answer to the questions, “What is gender and how does it emerge? Which problems we face just for being a woman?”

 

Stating that the women first know themselves for feminist self-defense, Gizem added, “The women should realize the attacks against them and their identity and they should know each person has immunities. Then they will say; I determine the boundaries of my own body and identity. And I do this with feminist ideology because feminist ideology is shaped according to this ideology.”

 

Gizem also underlined that women become stronger when they stand by themselves.