In Turkey, the feminist network Kadin Savunmasasi is mobilized to offer hygienic towels, underwear and an exchange time to the victims who have remained in the city.
By sevin Rey-Sahin
Antakya is no longer. From the ancient city located in the south of Turkey, formerly named Antioch, only crumbs of buildings remain that shovelters unlock all day. Between two mountains of rubble, a hunted with hears and trucks loaded with the last furniture that the lucky ones have managed to save. All flee the region affected by the earthquake of February 6 which left more than 44,000 dead in Turkey and Syria and its many replicas such as the earthquakes of February 20.
Nearly 1.4 million people are housed in tents, others sleep in cars, parks or on the street, according to AFAD, the governmental body management body. Along the green flow of the Sevgi Park, align dozens of tents and stands for distributing food, or mobile kitchens managed by NGOs. “No female solidarity”, we read on a white curtain hanging on a pergola.
Behind the fabric, three tents and a “female coffee” with its boxes as a seats, its improvised stove trash where clementine peelings burn and smoke a teapot. Half a dozen women, some wearing a purple vest with the female symbol, the others, veil on the head and slippers on the feet, take tea. Created by the feminist network Kadin Savunmasasi, this place welcomes the victims.
“I would like extra-light towels”, asks Furuzan, a large beige and mauve scarf covering his head. Since the earthquake, this 50 -year -old lives in her car with her husband. Her house is standing but she is afraid of entering it. “During the first five days, we could not change our underwear,” she confides with an embarrassed smile. We did not dare to ask the NGOs, and when a woman told us that they gave Napkins or panties in such a place, we went there. Head down, we whispered so that nobody can hear us. “
a country where the rules are taboo
On February 10, when the American company Kotex announced a donation of 1 million hygienic towels to the disaster regions, men criticized the gesture on Twitter, in this country where the rules are taboo. Women evoking online the shortage of these products have received messages asking them to show a little decency. To the point of female solidarity, 200 women command hygienic protections every day, which they dare to do elsewhere.
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