Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and women in Turkey have been on the frontlines to fight for their hard-earned rights when it comes to protection against violence this year. #IDEVAW
Murders of women have increased by 1,400 percent between 2002 and 2009 in Turkey, and recent years have seen an average of 400 femicides a year.
According to the WHO, 38% of women in Turkey are subject to domestic violence. #OrangeTheWorld
Instead of advocating for women’s rights, Turkey’s President Erdoğan decided to withdraw from the ‘Istanbul Convention’ last July, which was the first legally binding instrument that “creates a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women.”
Turkey was the first country to ratify the convention in 2012 and is now the first and only country to withdraw from it.
Erdoğan has promoted the controversial argument that “local laws” should be used to protect women’s rights, but women in Turkey continue to resist for their basic right of protection.
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This International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we honor the women who have heroically resisted patriarchy, capitalism, imperialism, fascism and colonialism and have sacrificed their lives to fight for a better and just world:
On this day in 1987, Burkinabe socialist president Thomas Sankara was assassinated at the age of 37.
He was killed in a military coup, suspected to have had support from the U.S. and France.
Sankara became the President of Burkina Faso at the age of 33, he only lasted 4 years.
Sankara gained the love of his people because of his humble lifestyle, socialist programs, & economic prosperity, but also his confrontation with the national elite, as he stripped power away from them, and for challenging Western imperialism and neo-colonialism in the continent.
In those 4 short years he:
• Lowered his salary to $450 a month, limited his possessions to a car, 4 bikes, 3 guitars, a fridge, and a broken freezer.
• Sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars & made the cheapest car in Burkina Faso the official service car.
That time Malcolm X met Fidel Castro in Harlem 60 years ago on this day. [A thread]
A year after the Cuban Revolution, Castro and his delegation came to NY to attend the UN General Assembly, but the management of the Manhattan hotel the delegation had booked now refused to house them after the U.S. government already pressured other hotels to reject the Cubans.
Upon learning of their situation, Malcolm X invited them to come uptown to Harlem, to stay at the Black-owned Hotel Theresa, where Malcolm X said he would be greeted with open arms.
Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation have endured numerous offensives on Gaza. Each day they're subject to militarized checkpoints & violent expulsions from their homes. This is what it’s like for children living under the constant threat of Israeli aggression:
More than 3,000 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces over the past two decades and tens of thousands have been injured. Currently, at least 1 million Palestinian children are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Over and above the deaths caused by Israeli airstrikes, numerous children are denied emergency medical care as a result of Israeli barriers and military checkpoints which significantly impede Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
Today marks one of the largest insurrections in the U.S. history. Black people rose up against racialized police violence, and the U.S. sent tanks and federal troops to crack down. 43 people were killed, 1,000 were injured, and more than 7,200 were arrested.
July 23rd 1967 Detroit Police raided an unlicensed bar and arrested 82 Black patrons. Scores of locals who were out to cool off during a heat wave witnessed this and protested the arrests. One threw a brick into a police car, beginning a riot that would last 5 days.
Days in, thousands of National Guard members and U.S. troops were deployed. Residents raided gun stores to arm themselves against the security forces. Detroit became a virtual war zone.