This year’s March 8 should be the occasion of new beginnings and changes. We must march to gain a life of freedom and equality while carrying the women’s revolution program to the female masses, where it must be rooted. We must get rid of any dead soil and calcifications in our organization. Ways must be found to break down male conformism within the party, to confront masculinity, to march to the center of politics as socialist women, to become subjects of struggle.
The male-dominated, fascist AKP-MHP government seeks to cover up its attacks on women and win over the female masses with its treacherous promises as it heads towards the local elections. Filled with promises, discussions over alliances, divisions and, above all, serious political problems, the 2024 local elections are taking on the character of a general election.
Upon closer examination, the promises made by parties representing the patriarchal system of exploitation in the local elections towards reveal that they are looking for ways to turn women into house slaves, child-bearing machines and cheap labour force, to enforce the “national family” policy, to encourage early marriage under the name of dowry aid, to make women dependent on social assistance to prevent divorce, and to rely house and care work on women entirely. Their promises do not seem to waste a single word on women’s working conditions, wage problems, correction of working hours, insecure, flexible and uninsured employment, and their dismissal on basis of union membership. To the masses of laborers, workers and young women: parties that express discourses that ignore women’s labor, control their body and freedom, define women according to men within the “home” and “family”, belittle the consciousness, mind and will of the masses of women, objectify women, do not offer solutions to stop violence against women, and protect and strengthen male domination. Parties that represent the capitalist patriarchal system of exploitation must not receive your vote in the local elections. that brought about this need to be called not to vote in local elections.
The fascist male-dominated regime is increasing its attacks against women and LGBTI+ people day by day in order to rebuild society on a political Islamist basis and to protect its sexist regime and capital domination. When we look at the balance sheet of patriarchal violence from 2023, at least 315 women were murdered, while 283 were killed under “suspicious circumstances”. The houses that were considered safe for 205 women became their graves. And the male judiciary did not give up its sentence reduction policy. Most of the time, no legal action was taken against the perpetrators, neither at the police station nor at the prosecutor’s office. The male judiciary showed that it sided with the male gender with the decisions it made. By introducing the concept of “suspicious” deaths, it ensured that femicides remained unsolved. Political activities and actions serving the women’s freedom struggle and LGBTI+ people were banned, arrests, massacres, sexual torture in custody, harassment, rape and sexual abuse in Kurdistan continued uninterruptedly during this period. By propagandizing the destruction of the traditional family institution, LGBTI+ were put in center of the target. This was an attempt to purify the oppressed classes all the while supporting and consolidating its own base.
Despite all the attacks and sieges by the fascist bloc, the women’s movement managed to maintain its militant and combative side on the streets and overcome protest bans. With his combative manner, they not only gave morale to the labor left movement, but also continued to guide and encourage it. Despite this quality, the idea of the “last banned March 8” before the 2023 general elections turned into disappointment after Erdogan won again, creating a break in the political will of the women’s movement, as in all opposition forces. There was an erosion in the power of action and organization. There were retreats and operational contractions in wake of political attacks. Despite all its dynamism, it has reached a limit in terms of its style of action, means of struggle, and political intervention agendas. Local elections and March 8 are important opportunities to overcome these limits and obstructions and to fight militantly and decisively against the political representatives of the patriarchy. We are entering a period that will determine how the politics of confrontation and alliance in the gender war will be shaped, whether the women’s movement will overcome the contraction it has experienced and whether it will reassert its political claim.
On this year’s March 8, SKM (Sosyalist Kadin Meclisleri — Socialist Women’s Councils; socialist women’s organization in Turkey and North Kurdistan) should become more active in organizing working women in exposing the gender, labor and body exploitation policies of the patriarchal political bloc, in organizing women’s pioneering actions against poverty, violence and war, and should increase their political influence by providing diversity in means and forms of struggle. The deepening contradiction between the man’s state and women must taken to the streets and turned into an uprising. The electoral process offers SKM the basis and opportunity to achieve this. They must seize this moment and put their accumulated experiences of struggle, energy and consciousness to use, One must insist on widespread, continuous, local and on-site visits to the masses of workers, laborers and young women, establishing concrete, face-to-face relationships, acting with the perspective of “March 8 is every day” in political work, and re-gaining the working style of a women’s party.
The organization of the March 8 campaign falls into a difficult period, with the staff structure of organizations shrinking, alienation from the female masses, almost no local work, and weakening interest in working among women. The words of Communist Clara Zetkin, “Every desire finds a way” should be the motto of this year’s March 8 campaign. This year’s March 8 should be the occasion of new beginnings and changes. We must march to gain a life of freedom and equality while carrying the women’s revolution program to the female masses, where it must be rooted. We must get rid of any dead soil and calcifications in our organization. Ways must be found to break down male conformism within the party, to confront masculinity, to march to the center of politics as socialist women, to become subjects of struggle.
SKM should organize activities related to the the local elections, as well as March 8, around the female candidates of the DEM Party in many cities and areas, with the will, enthusiasm and power of their last congress and established organizations behind them. The DEM Party should bring its gender-liberal local government approach to the women masses, with its co-chairmanship, zipper system in candidacies, and the election women’s declaration it publishes.
The content of the slogan “Onto March 8 to Win an Equal and Free Life” should be concretized and brought to life in mass work. The problems and demands of working women should be expressed, and gender-liberal and egalitarian local governments should be propagated widely.
All party organizations, especially SKM, should plan and take action on how the women’s masses will be organized, how many commissions will be established, how many house meetings will be held, what the target of participation in the March 8 rallies and actions will be. A focused, targeted and systematic approach should be established, it should be located in the pilot area determined for work among women, and continuity should be ensured in the political mass agitation and propaganda work. Various women’s meetings and events, breakfasts, interviews, forums, music concerts and self-defense classes should be organized in women’s election offices established in various neighborhoods. Working groups should be opened around the distribution of the Women and Life bulletin and volunteer groups around female headman candidates. Flea markets should be organized, leaflets should be distributed, and posters should be plastered around the city. Women’s meetings should be organized in workers’ homes and textile workshops, surveys should be conducted in front of high schools, and zines as well as wother material should be handed out.
There are only a few days left until March 8th. The way to win March 8 and the local elections is paved by organizing continuous outreach to and mobilization of the women’s masses and ensuring that all party organizations approach their work like it were that of a women’s party. Moreover, this year the energy, organizational forms and mass work of March 8 will go beyond the day itsself. Women’s efforts on March 8 will continue until March 31 in the form of election activities. This is an opportunity to organize uninterrupted and systematic work among women within the scope of local election policy. It is certain that the fascist patriarchal government will insist on its brutal gender war policy against women in the immediate aftermath of the elections. In order to gain an equal and free life, women’s voices must be heard in all areas of life, in factories, squares and schools, and their determination and militancy must be demonstrated. March 8 is ours and so is our freedom!
*Editorial of the 156th issue of ATILIM newspaper, Voice of the Working Class and the Oppressed, dated February 23.