Kurdish Women are Fighting Back Against Rape in Turkey

For years the rape of Kurdish women living in Turkey both in custody and during village raids has been a scandal. Many of the victims of sexual torture dare not speak of their experiences, because of the dishonor associated with rape and sexual violation in traditional communities.

Jake R. Hess

As RAWA wrote way back in 2002, “Given the social and legal penalties for speaking out, it is a reasonable assumption that the documented cases of rape and sexual torture of Kurdish women represent the tip of the iceberg. Even so, they reveal that sexual torture is routinely used against women in custody, and frequently involves their children and other family members.”

The Democratic Free Women’s Movement (DOKH), a loose amalgamation of mostly Kurdish women’s organisations and activists, launched a year-long campaign under the banner “Let’s create a free and democratic society and overcome the culture of rape.” Read more

US Journalist Deported from Turkey After Reporting on Plight of Kurds

See the video of this interview on our homepage.

Twenty-five-year-old American journalist Jake Hess was arrested in Turkey nearly two weeks ago and deported back to the United States over the weekend. Turkey accused him of allegedly having ties with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey and the United States classify as a terrorist organization. But Hess and his lawyer have maintained that Hess was targeted because of his writings. His recent articles for Inter Press Service have focused on Turkish soldiers deliberately starting forest fires, the depopulation of Kurdish villages, and Turkish-Iranian air strikes on Kurdish homes in northern Iraq. Read more