‘Holding Up The Photograph’ report published

Experiences of the Women Whose Husbands were Forcibly Disppeared Author: Özlem Kaya, Hatice Bozkurt Source: Truth Justice Memory Center

The report prepared by Truth Justice Memory Center focuses on the experiences of women whose husbands were forcibly disappeared. Our objective was to analyse the various dimensions of state violence in a more holistic fashion through the experiences of women, and as such present a gendered perspective of the violence inflicted by the state.

In addition to the interviews conducted during the first year of the study, report also includes in dept interviews with 33 women from Cizre, İdil, Silopi, Güçlükonak, Uludere, Şırnak city center, Diyarbakır and İstanbul. The report stresses the need to include the experiences of women, those who were left behind, in all processes aiming to uncover truth and find reconcilliation.

The expressions of the women were intensively quoted in the report. In addition to the concrete policy recommendations from a gender perspective regarding enforced disappearances, General Comment on the Women Affected from Enforced Disappearance by the UN Human Rights Council Working Group On Enforced or Involuntary Disappearences is also presented in the report.