Vildan Atmaca/JINHA

WAN – When Aygül Gencer opened her sewing supplies shop, she became the first female shopkeeper in her town. Aygül says that she hopes to see women develop their potential and make themselves independent of men.

Around the world, women struggle to live outside the bounds society sets for them. The largely Kurdish province of Van, Turkey is a place where these bounds are particularly obvious.

“When I was looking for a shop to rent, I encountered prejudices from the owners, like ‘I wonder if she’ll pay the rent on time; after all, what can a woman shopkeeper do?’” said Aygül Gencer, who became the first female shopkeeper in the Muradiye district of the province.
When landlords refused to rent a shop to Aygül, she was forced to list her brother-in-law on the lease. Aygül noted that she was able to remove her brother-in-law from the lease after she had “broken the taboos” in Muradiye. “I think that I overcame the views of women in the district, if only to a certain extent,” she said.

“Ten years ago, you couldn’t see two women outside in Muradiye if you looked all day,” said Aygül. “In time, women started to go to the market more easily, and things got a bit easier for us. As the first woman shopkeeper, all eyes were on me. This was a place where we were uncomfortable walking on the street, where we were scared even when we got in a car. We’d always sit in the backseat. As the perceptions in society slowly began to change, women began to step forward.” Aygül noted that in 2010, she became the first woman in town to drive a car.

“My call to women: stand on your own two feet,” said Aygül. She called on women to finish their education and even if they are in the home, to find ways to support themselves, such as making handicrafts. “Women need to develop and transform themselves, so that they don’t have to rely on men,” Aygül said.

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