Defend the Istanbul Convention and Defend Women, #ChallengeAccepted
The origin of that selfie challenge is serious, and it’s linked to something all women need to be aware of.
Last Monday, I was at home on my couch, working on lesson plans for the coming fall semester at the colleges where I teach. Next to me was my iPhone, which lit up suddenly around 4 pm.
Glancing over, I saw it was an Instagram message from an old co-worker who I chat with now and then. I was curious to see why she sent me a message via Instagram, and even more so when I realized that it was a group message.
When I checked to see what was up, I got the message so many other women around the world got that day:
Flattered, I thanked that old friend for choosing me, and later that night, I posted a black-and-white selfie onto Instagram. So many of my female friends, and other women I follow on Instagram, did the same thing. It looked like a viral sisterhood was happening, and even if it seemed shallow to support other women by posting a selfie, it still was heartwarming to cheer on other women in this way.
My thoughts on this changed drastically the next morning when another female friend, who did not partake in the challenge, posted on Instagram something myself, and many other women, knew very little or nothing about.
She had re-posted a message from the account A Girl Has No President, who had re-posted from an account named Beelzeboobz.
Beelzeboobz, who is from Istanbul, Turkey, spoke of his concern over non-Turkish people not knowing where the challenge came from or why it was around. In slide posts, Beelzeboobz explained how Turkey has one of the “top countries when it comes to femicides. Just in 2019 we have had almost 500 RECORDED femicides.”
He goes on to say that the Turkish government and justice systems have done little to stop women from being murdered, and those who are caught are barely punished, if at all. Even worse, the government is looking to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which was created in 2011 to prevent violence against women, as well as femicide. Ironically, Turkey was the first to adopt the convention, only to see femicide and violence against women increase in recent years.
In protest, the black and white photo challenge was created for women to defend other women and, as Beelzeboobz explained, “to stand in solidarity with the women we have lost. To show that one day, it could be their picture that is plastered across news outlets with a black and white filter on top.”
While Beelzeboobz knows there is no “ill will” with this recent worldwide challenge, he believes it is important that we all know why this challenge began in the first place.
It looked like a viral sisterhood was happening, and even if it seemed shallow to support other women by posting a selfie, it still was heartwarming to cheer on other women in this way.
He’s right, especially given the major human rights, and women’s rights, issues behind this challenge. The fact that Turkey may have one of the highest rates of femicide in the world, and the government admits to not keeping records, should be concerning for any woman.
But there’s more going on here than just a government ignoring the statistics that show women are in danger.
The Istanbul Convention was created in 2011 by the Council of Europe to set standards to prevent and combat violence against women. The types of violence the convention describes include physical violence, stalking, mental abuse, sexual abuse, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and so on. Although many European countries signed the convention, not all ratified it.
One of the reasons why Turkey is looking to withdraw from the convention is because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a conservative who has publicly spoken against women who have no children, and even said women are not equal to men. According to The Guardian, Numan Kurtulmus, the deputy chair of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which Erdogan is from, said that the convention is “very wrong” and “played into the hands of LGBT and marginal elements”.
This echoes what was said in Poland this very week. Earlier this month, Polish President Andrzej Duda narrowly won re-election to lead Poland for another five years. He ran on an anti-LGBTQ platform, in which he vowed to make it illegal for same-sex couples to adopt children. On Monday, Poland’s Minister of Justice, Zbigniew Ziobro, who is part of Duda’s party, Law and Justice Party (see a trend here?) announced that Poland will be withdrawing, saying the convention is “an invention, a feminist creation aimed at justifying gay ideology.” He also explained that the convention “contains elements of an ideological nature, which we consider harmful,” all because it will mean teaching children about gender.
Within this one week alone, two countries, that have become increasingly conservative, have made it clear that they are not too concerned with the safety and the lives of their women, or women anywhere, for that matter. When LGBTQ rights are in trouble, so are women’s. Looks like this is what happens when conservative men have to even entertain the idea of seeing two groups of people who are different from them as human beings who deserve to be treated equally.
There is also an irony that the political parties that are looking to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention claim to be about “law and order”. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
One has to wonder what could happen here in the United States if things continue to go as they are. With “law and order” being used by the Trump administration, and its supporters, what is to come if Trump wins re-election in November? LGBTQ rights are being rolled back more and more, and the right for women to choose to have an abortion or not is fading away ever more so. What’s next? Also, don’t forget, Trump is an ally of Poland’s Duda and is warming up with Erdogan these days. He’s also supportive of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who banned gender studies from universities and recently banned legal recognition of transgender and intersex people. Who’s to say Orban isn’t next to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, or do something else to harm women’s rights?
Let’s not forget that behind all this, quietly watching and pulling strings, is Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whose country has a high rate of domestic violence against women, as well as an unsafe place for LGBTQ people. A recent bill to bring up this national problem was criticized by conservative groups who said the bill went against traditional values and would “destroy the Russian family”.
Although violence against women and femicide is a worldwide problem, seen in every single country — France is said to have had 137 women be killed in 2019, Mexico saw 1,000 women be killed in the first three months of this year alone, on average 20,000 Australian women seek shelter each year — the fact the aforementioned countries have both an alliance and rhetoric that claims to be about law and order, and supportive of the family, should be taken note of. Because what one of those countries does, another may do. They are united rolling back LGBTQ rights, and if they equate protecting women’s rights with protecting LGBTQ rights, then there’s a pattern arising that many need to take note of. This is especially so here in the United States with an election approaching, and with LGBTQ rights and pro-choice laws slipping away.
On Tuesday, upon realizing the origins of the selfie challenge, I went back to my Instagram post and added to my list of hashtags supporting women — #womenempowerment, #womenarestrong — and added my acknowledgment of what the black-and-white selfie challenge truly is about by using hashtags, #endfemicide, #istanbulconvention, #nomoredomesticviolence. I want to stand with women worldwide and show that women are strong for not accepting abuse for any reason.
As it is clear that something else more serious is going on than a simple selfie challenge, it looks like what started on Monday needs to grow and become bigger and more powerful. Women should support and empower women. But with right-wing politicians turning away from protecting women from any kind of violence, we need to stand up now more than ever. Women’s rights aren’t looking any good around the world, and we need to fight back before they even get worse.
