Medya Cebe/JINHA

WAN - Women in the city of Van, in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), say that street harassment has become a "war on women" in the city and that they are considering taking preventive measures.

Whether on the busy avenues or the lonely streets, verbal and physical harassment has become part of everyday life for women in the city of Van. However, women say that their very presence on the streets is a form of resistance--and that they are prepared to respond to the attacks.

"There's harassment against all women. Whether they're covered or not, it doesn't matter; they harass everybody. It's become routine for us," said Dicle Bozkurt. "But we get really nervous when we walk on the street. Every day we're hearing on the news about women who are raped and killed. So we can't feel safe."

Sevcan Tosun echoed the sentiment, saying it is rare for her to be able to go on the street without being harassed. She said that from children of 11 or 12 to "uncles" of 40 or 50, harassment could come from nearly any man in the city.

Behiye Şaybak Peker runs a café in the city. She sees the harassment as "a war against women." She said that while there was always harassment in Van, since the 2011 earthquake that devastated the city, there has been a large increase. She evaluated it as a way to push women back into the home.

"For men who shut women in their own families up in their houses, they see it as their right to shout at women on the street. They have this logic, 'she could have not gone out; if she's out, it's natural for me to shout at her," said Behiye.

"This situation is really making us nervous," said Nazlı Fırat, who described an incident when a young boy ran up to her and physically harassed her. "We want to walk around freely in Van and not be scared of men. My call to those who are doing these attacks is this: if you continue doing this, we will have to take our own measures."

(ht/fk/cm)