Women in Hamburg take action in solidarity with Meryem S.

In Hamburg, an international women's alliance protested against femicide and expressed solidarity with Meyrem S. the Kurdish woman seriously injured by her ex-husband who also injured her two children.

The “International Women's Alliance - European Women's Solidarity” held another solidarity rally for Meyrem S. and her two children in front of the criminal justice building on Sievekingplatz in Hamburg where the trial against the woman’s former husband is taking place.

Meryem S. and her children were the victims of an attempted murder in May this year. The alliance calls for the full implementation of the Istanbul Convention and international recognition of femicides as crimes against humanity.

With regard to the escalating violence against women and children in North Kurdistan and Turkey, the activists drew attention to the Kurdish women's movement's “100 reasons to prosecute the dictator” campaign and collected signatures.

A representative of the feminist initiative “Fight Together” said: “With German weapons in the hands of jihadist mercenaries, attacks on the civilian population in Northern Syria are still taking place today. From a revolutionary feminist perspective, international solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement is more important than ever. Because for us it is clear: Violence against women has no limits, but is a central component of a patriarchal and capitalist world order in which human rights are sacrificed in favor of geopolitical and national interests."

The activist continued: “In Germany, femicide is often racialized and viewed as a problem related to foreign culture. That plays into the hands of the racist narrative of the right-wing populists, so that at the same time racism is increasing in this country. Migrant women often face double discrimination. In addition, the term honor killing actually protect the double regime of violence against women in the Near and Middle East, where the honor of society and the family is at the expense of women who are being oppressed. At the same time, because it is seen as a man's possession, the woman is the first target for sexual violence in war zones. The supposed awakening of politics through the rise of violence against women in times of coronavirus ignores the everyday nature of this patriarchal violence."

The next rally of the Women's Alliance is planned for 23 December at 4 pm in Altona.