Asiye Tekin/ Nışmiye Güler-JINHA

WAN - In Northern Kurdistan, in Turkey, city governments are proposing a way to solve women's problems that goes beyond the shelter or the information line: Life Centers.

The mainly Kurdish provinces of eastern Turkey are currently served by shelters and information centers for women. Starting with the city of Van, local governments have begun to explore a new way of solving women's problems: Life Centers, spaces which support women's education and self-sufficiency as well as helping women escape violence.

The Rojin Women's Life Center, located in the city of Van, is the first and only institution that uses this model. The center, opened by the municipal government, has inspired other local governments to explore the model.

"The goal of Life Centers is to ensure women's participation in social and economic life," said Alev Çelik, a sociologist at the center. "We are working to create space for women to produce and create on their own."

At the Life Center, spaces where women can pursue economic self-sufficiency and have a space outside the home share a complex with legal and psychological services for women being abused. The center offers lessons and facilities for making ceramics, textiles, rugs, painting and handicrafts, as well as a play area for children and a sports facility.

"We made spaces where women can find themselves. In practice, we saw how important these things are," said Alev. "Now we really need to increase the areas where women can live, because in every village, neighborhood and home we go to in the struggle against the patriarchal mindset, we see problems." She explained that the main limit of the center is that it is located in urban Van and is not available to many women living in towns or rural areas.

Now, municipal governments run by the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) have begun feasibility assessments for their own Life Centers, according to Yıldız Çetin, the co-mayor of the nearby town of Gürpınar.

Yıldız explained that the town of Gürpınar started by taking part in the forming of neighborhood councils and village communes in the region. Local formations like these quickly revealed women's socioeconomic status. Based on this information and a data-gathering process, the city is looking into whether a Life Center could be a solution for women's problems in the region.

The cities of Ağrı and Yüksekova, located in neighboring provinces, have also been exploring the Life Center model.

(gc/fk/cm)