About

EMPOWERING GIRLS VIA VOLLEYBALL is a San Diego based non-profit organization whose mission is to help economically disadvantaged oppressed girls in conservative parts of Turkiye (Turkey), including Syrian refugees, via volleyball. 

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Young girls suffer from 3 main abuses in conservative Turkiye:

1) Violence, 2) Honor Killing, 3) Child Marriage.

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On the other hand, despite being a conservative country, volleyball is a popular sport in secular and economically advantaged circles of women, which is a minority. "Volleyball women’s team embodies the westernized side of Turkey. They were the celebration of Free, Strong Women, who continue to prevail despite years of conservative pressures" as stated by Nevsun Mengu, a female Turkish journalist.

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Established by Kayra Ayar in May 2023, Empowering Girls via Volleyball organization aims to  provide the oppressed girls with opportunities to play volleyball and help build Free, Strong Women.

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1. Violence against Women, especially women from rural, under privileged backgrounds.

   1. Women’s rights groups and independent media regularly record hundreds of femicides every year. 1

   2. Around four out of ten women in Turkey say they have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by husbands or partners at some time during their lives.1

2. Honor Killings

   1. “Your sister has done wrong (for going out with boys). You have to kill her”. 2

   2. An “honor killing” is the murder of a girl or woman by her family members due to their disapproval of her alleged sexual misbehavior, which they perceive as defying societal gender norms.3

   3. 300 women were murdered by men in 2020, and 171 women were found suspiciously dead.4

3. Child Marriage 

   1. One third of all marriages in Turkey are child marriages and one third of women get married under the age of 18.

   2. According to 2013 Gaziantep University research, 82% of child brides in Turkey are illiterate.

   3. Between 2012 and 2014, 90,483 cases were filed in Turkey about the rape, sexual harassment or exploitation of underage girls. 17,000 girls were reported as missing between 2011 and 2014

   4. Child Marriage - Child marriage is a social problem that is prevalent in all regions of the country and primarily affects girls. Gender inequality is embedded in traditions and values, rises with poverty and lack of education, and results in child marriage for girls. ​

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Citations

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1)    Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey. The Deadly Impact of Failure to Protect
https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/05/26/combatting-domestic-violence-turkey/deadly-impact-failure-protect
2)    Molly Moore, In Turkey, ‘Honor Killing’ Follows Families to Cities: Women Are Victims of Village Tradition, WASH. POST, Aug. 8, 2001, at A01, available http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/dilberk.htm (quoting Sait Kina).
3)    Dicle Kogacioglu, The Tradition Effect: Framing Honor Crimes in Turkey, 15, DIFFERENCES 118, 118 (2004).
4)    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femicide_in_Turkey
5)    Child marriage in Turkey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_Turkey

6)     https://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/unfpa%20turkey%20summary.pdf