JINHA

ŞIRNEX – The trustee recently appointed to take over the Cizre municipality has shut down the Sitiya Zîn Women’s Counseling Center, after having seized women’s confidential applications to the center.

When a trustee was appointed to take over the municipality of Cizre, in Şırnak province, the trustee’s first action was to seize applications that local women had made to the municipality-operated Sitiya Zîn Women’s Counseling Center regarding their experiences of violence and sexual assault, despite the legal restrictions on these documents.

Although women’s organizations denounced the action, stating that it endangered the lives of the women, the trustee has now shut down the center entirely. The center’s four employees have been transferred to the janitorial department.

The Sitiya Zîn Women’s Counseling Center has conducted a number of projects for women in Cizre over its five-year existence. Most recently, the center had produced a report summarizing a comprehensive research project on the state of women and children during last year’s attacks on the city by state forces.

(aı/fk/cm)