Say No to Passive Violence!

Şükran Güzin Ilıcak, Head of Public Relations and Publicity Department of Istanbul Gelişim University and Director of Gender Studies Application and Research Center, gave a talk at 14.00 on Tuesday, 12.03.2019 with the participation of Bahar Polat. In the interview titled “The Destructive Effect of Passive Violence”, the difficulties faced by women in the process of socialization from family life to work life and ways to overcome these difficulties were discussed. The conversation, which started with Bahar Polat telling about the events she experienced in her childhood, examined the difficulties that girls have faced since childhood. In the later stages of the conversation, Polat talked about the difficulties of being a “woman” in her youth, in her professional life and in her social relations, respectively.
 
While describing her memories of his childhood, Polat stated that "In the geography where I was born, it was perceived as a crime to be born as a woman" and stated that women were pressured. Stating that there is both physical and psychological violence against women, Polat noted that especially the discourses affect the psychology of people. While describing the difficulties she faced in her professional life, she said, “You see other dimensions of violence in the place where you work. They pay you less because you're a woman. They behave differently towards you in the work environment.” Stating that violence is a social problem as well as being a gender problem, Polat said, “They exploit their labor in journalism. This isn't just about women, either. Can a person work for 30 hours? This is violence," he said. Polat focused on the relationship between men and women in the following parts of his speech. Polat said, “Passive violence also manifests itself in relationships between men and women, including marriage. Even if there is no direct physical violence, women's self-confidence is being eroded through speech, which is passive violence," she said. Stating that being a woman is difficult not only in Turkey but also in the world, Polat also addressed the media and stated that violence against women is legitimized in the media.
 
Concluding his speech by saying, "We are all born as human beings, but we cannot become human," Polat suggested to the participants that "No one is born in vain, one must be courageous". Later, she gave advice to the audience. Polat, who started his advice with the words "Every difficulty builds your personality", ended his advice by saying "know yourself", "your job is not with the machine, but with people, first get to know yourself so that you can get to know others and empathize".
 
After the question and answer session, the interview ended with the presentation of a plaque to Bahar Polat by Şükran Güzin Ilıcak Aydınalp, Director of Istanbul Gelişim University Gender Studies Application and Research Center. After the event, which was followed with great interest by the students, the students stated that Bahar Polat's life story was inspiring for women and expressed their desire for the issue of gender to be addressed in new activities.