The closing conference of the “WAVE: Women Against Violence Engagement” Project conducted by NOTUS from Spain was held in Ankara on January 11, 2016. The collaborating partners of the project which aimed to contribute to the fight for violence against women in Turkey by strengthening the knowledge exchange between civil society organizations in Italy, Spain and Turkey were SURT (Spain), FGB (Italy), The Foundation for Women’s Solidarity (Turkey) and Turkish Social Sciences Association (Turkey).

WAVE Closing Conference strengthened the dialogue aspect of the project by bringing together the civil society organizations working on violence against women, researchers, decision-makers, and representatives of media.

The participants had the opportunity to listen to two experts during the morning session titled “International Frames for Gender-Based Violence”. While Prof. Carol Hagemann-White compared the issue of violence against women Europe-wide, Prof. Dr. Feride Acar shared the reflections of the Istanbul Convention with the audience. It was emphasized that civil society organizations have significant contributions in preventing violence against women.

The afternoon session started with the presentation of Spain, Italy and Turkey country reports and continued with Comparison Report. The report showed that the level of violence against women was extremely high in all three countries and stated that the focus in Turkey should be on the gap between legislation and implementation. The comparison report which is a comprehensive compilation aims to increase and share knowledge on violence against women in these three countries.

Following the sessions, the outcomes of the WAVE workshops and trainings were shared and a group study was held to establish a joint platform to collect all relevant projects and activities under a single roof for the sake of sustainability. This platform is planned to organize information and strengthen coordination between civil society and public organizations.

For more information about the project, please visit http://civilsocietydialogue.org/project/wave-women-violence-engagement/