A new association has been established in Van to address the increase in the cases of violence against violence and murders. The establishment coincides with the celebrations for 8 March, International Working Women's Day.

Star Women's Association was created by seven women and aims to protect women who are exposed to violence more effectively, to raise awareness in the society and to create a more conscious society with regard to women.

Giving information on the work of the new association, spokeswoman Serap Güvenç said that violence is one of the biggest problems because of its spreading worldwide and in Turkey.

Güvenç said: "Both national and international studies reveal that violence is actually universal. It's a very common problem. The issue of violence against women seems to concern only a part of the society, but this is not the case. It concerns the whole society. In fact, we cannot only deal with violence against women only when it comes to physical violence. Psychological, social, sexual, verbal abuse, war, economic problems all are part of what we call violence. Women often only suffer violence because they are women."

'We have proposals'

Analysing the high level of violence against women in Turkey and its cultural acceptance, Güvenç said: "The problem can not be overcome only by women policies. A service structure needs to be strengthened to protect women. Our aim, with the establishment of this association is that we must first point out that it is the society that needs to develop solutions to revert this trend. It is not possible to handle and evaluate violence against women individually."

Güvenç added: "The woman who has been subjected to violence must be supported by the society. Violence cannot be justified. Our association will be the voice of thousands of women.  Violence is not a personal or family affair."

Stating that the work done by the public authorities in this field is not enough, Güvenç added that they will try to make both men and the society more sensitive.

Referring to the importance of increasing the number of women's shelters, Güvenç concluded: "Rising awareness is the goal. We aim to create a common ground with men in this regard. Violence is widespread in our city, but women who have been subjected to violence are very lonely and as many as half of them cannot explain the violence they have experienced. It is important to ensure solidarity among women and to create effective dominant groups. The bleeding wound of child abuse is also on our agenda."