The Muş (Mûş) Municipality, now governed by the political tradition represented by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which won the municipality from the ruling Justice and Development Party in the 2024 elections, is implementing a series of projects focused on women. Aiming to increase the visibility of women in public spaces and address the needs of women through local governance, the municipality has already launched several initiatives and continues preparations for more. Within the first year, it has established a Women’s Rest Center, a Women’s Mourning House, and a Directorate of Women and Family Services. Currently, it is preparing to launch additional projects including a Women’s City Council, a Women’s Solidarity Center, a Violence Emergency Hotline, and a First Response Shelter.

Işık Akman, Director of Women and Family Services at Muş Municipality, noted that for the first time under the new administration, a Directorate of Women and Family Services was established within the municipality. She stated that the creation of the directorate has increased the visibility of women in the city. Akman emphasized that women have frequently expressed their appreciation for this initiative and said: “For the first time, such a step has been taken within the structure of the municipality here. Of course, we will have many different and comprehensive projects. In order to address women’s problems, we have begun engaging directly with them to understand the root causes and to offer alternatives. In this regard, we are conducting one-on-one meetings with women. Our fieldwork will begin in a short time. Based on the issues we identify in the field, we will develop solutions at the center and take concrete steps accordingly.”

The shelter is widely known and not safe

Işık Akman highlighted that women are facing multiple forms of violence and that existing support mechanisms are inadequate. She explained that although there is a women’s shelter in the city, its address, which should remain confidential, is known by nearly everyone in Muş, creating a serious safety risk. She also noted that the shelter’s capacity is insufficient. Akman stated that they aim to launch the “First Response Shelter” project to address this problem. She said, “Almost every day, more than one woman is subjected to violence here, and when they go to the shelter, the perpetrator can easily find them. The fact that the shelter’s location is known poses a serious risk; perpetrators of violence, or even the families of those experiencing it, can show up at the shelter and forcibly remove them. There are many such examples.”

Women are being threatened at the doors of the violence prevention center

The fact that shelter addresses are widely known has allowed perpetrators of violence to show up at the entrance of the Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center (ŞÖNİM), which operates under the Muş Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, and directly threaten women, Işık Akman said: “When the locations of shelters are known, they become dangerous. In a small city like Mus, this danger increases significantly. Women, unable to get results from the places they seek refuge in, are forced to return to the very homes where they were subjected to violence. They end up having to go back to their abusers. This is a major shortcoming for our province.”

Işık Akman noted that they are continuing their efforts to ensure the safety of women and their children and said, “What worries us is this: how can we keep women safe in such a small city? We are continuing our work on this issue. We will carry out every effort with great care to create a safer environment for women.”

Akman criticized the government’s inadequate policies on protecting women and continued: “State institutions are doing everything they can to send women who experience violence back to their abusers. Normally, protective orders are issued to individuals and must be enforced. If not enforced, there are supposed to be deterrent penalties. But here, those rules are not applied, they are handled carelessly. An order is issued, but it means nothing. This situation not only leaves women economically vulnerable but also forces them to live with their abusers.”

First response shelter project

Işık Akman explained that they have been working on opening a Women’s Solidarity Center within the municipality and that its groundwork has already been laid. While women do come to the municipality for consultations, she noted that it has not been possible to conduct in-depth, confidential meetings there. She emphasized that once the solidarity center is opened, specialists will hold private sessions with women and added the following: “Specialists need to conduct one-on-one consultations with women. When it comes to solving problems, the input and assessments of professionals will of course be much healthier. After opening the Women’s Solidarity Center, we will also establish a Violence Hotline. Women will be able to reach us directly through that line. In addition, we have the First Response Shelter project, which we aim to launch as soon as possible. We are working on many projects to support women socially, psychologically, and economically. We are building the infrastructure for all of them. Our work with women will continue. We will go door to door to find solutions to their problems. We will keep developing projects to govern our city with women’s ideas and to empower women as decision-makers.”