Cizre women hold sidewalk sit-in to retake public space

2015-04-12 10:58:01

ŞIRNAK (DİHA) - In protest against male domination of public space, women held a sit-in on the sidewalks of the city of Cizre, in Northern Kurdistan.

Members of the Cizre Women's Platform say that men, by moving their chairs and tables out onto the sidewalks of the city, were making life difficult for women, children and people with disabilities. They held a sit-in against the male occupation of the sidewalks and streets of the city.

Cizre co-mayor Leyla İmret says that women have been struggling for the last year against the stools and chairs that men, particularly patrons of male-dominated coffee houses, relocate onto the sidewalks as the weather grows warm. "Men need to accept the bounds of living together with others," said Leyla.

She says the women are planning to tour the coffee houses of the city on a twice weekly basis announcing to the men there that they need to respect other residents of the city. They will continue holding sit-ins every Saturday and Wednesday until the problem ends.

(cm/nt)