The Project: "Where is The Support System?"

Where is the Support System?

Project period: February 2018-November 2018
Website: www.csdestek.org

Sexual Violence Support System is the network, composed of relatives/acquaintances or professionals who provide support to the individuals exposed to sexual violence.

The project ‘Where is the Support System?’ supported by the Consulate General of Sweden-Istanbul aims to answer the questions that survivors of sexual violence ask, such as “I’ve been exposed to sexual violence, what should I do now? Where or whom can I get support or services from? Where and how can I apply to? “.

In the scope of this project a web site will be created which includes the service map of the institutions responding to sexual violence applications in Istanbul as well as the information on the application procedure and guidelines for healing with a strengthening approach after the violence case. The primary aim of the project is to make it easier for the survivors of sexual violence to get access to the services and support which are their rights. It is intended that sexual violence institutions and services to be separated from the other institutions responding to the applications covering all types of violence, and in some cases, several different needs and to be more visible and easily accessible.

Current state;

Sexual violence is a matter that deeply affects our wellbeing both at the individual and social scale and supporting to the survivors of this sort of violence is a very essential need. After sexual violence incidents, the public discusses and focuses mostly on the ‘punishment to the perpetrator’. However, the solution of many problems such as the prevention of impunity in sexual violence offenses is only achieved through encouraging people inflicted to violence to declare violence without being blamed and embarrassed, and enabling them to apply to existing mechanisms, to gain access to the services and support they are entitled to, and to fight for a system that can meet the needs with a rights-based focus.

In Turkey there is no specialized institution meeting the needs of the ones exposed to sexual violence such as Rape Crisis Center, Sexual Violence Counseling Center, or Sexual Violence Emergency Reference Hot Line. In fact, the extent and quality of support services provided for sexual violence survivors in existing institutions is not completely known. Further, a lack of protective-preventive approach and inaccurate knowledge among professional specialists and service providers is encountered. There can be also various violations of rights such as confidentiality violation, secondary trauma risk and incomplete reporting by ignoring the conditions such as the perception of sexual violence in society, male-dominated understanding, rape culture, victim-blaming and stigmatization.

Under these conditions, people must find where and how they can apply to by themselves and with their own means. As a matter of fact, as the survivors of sexual violence, if we don’t have the support around us and in the society we live, we must carry out this searching process secretly. During search of supportafter a sexual violence attack we experience, we can only obtain incoherent or insufficient information from different sources. Indeed, the information we get cannot match the practices we experience most of the time. If we have different circumstances, identities/statuses or needs (for example, disability, refugee, foreigner, LGBTI +, child, student, prisoners, etc.) we cannot find specialized institutions that can help us further in our circumstances.

Purposes of the project:

• To make supports and services specialized for responding to sexual violence cases more visible within the existing social support system, so that they become more easily accessible by people in need.
• To generate and disseminate informative materials using a strengthening language on services and support applications for survivors of sexual violence
• To make the quality and capacity of the existing units in İstanbul regarding their specialized service on sexual violence visible and accessible as data,
• To make the institutions that can respond to the diversity of needs more accessible by people in need.

Outputs of the project:

• At the end of this project, CSMD will produce a service map consisting of hundreds of non-governmental and public institutions in Istanbul that provide services for the cases of sexual violence and sexual abuse, such as hospitals, prosecution units, bar associations, forensic medicine institutions, police units, and social service centers.
• On the website where the map is located, informative and awareness-raising short videos and visual materials on the application process and frequently asked questions will be available. Information on the map will be printed as a guide and informational materials will be printed as a brochure.
• There will be a panel which will bring professional experts together in order to discuss the capacity and quality of service support units responding to sexual violence cases in Turkey.

PROJECT TEAM

Project Coordination, research and reporting: Hilal Esmer, Merve Karabulut

Web site and map design and application: Kakare Yazılım Bilişim Tasarım

Design Team: CSMD Volunteers

Project Consultants: Association of Forensic Experts Gender Equality Group, Bilgi University Unit for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Assault, Seda Akço Bilen- Humanist Bureau, Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation.

* The opinions that have been expressed above, reflect the views only of the Association for Struggle Against Sexual Violence. Therefore, the Consulate General of Sweden-İstanbul cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This post is also available in: Turkish