Skip to main content

Feminist Film Recommendation: "Dying to Divorce"


Lived experiences of women are essential for feminist theory, knowledge production, and activism. It is no surprise that the phrase “the personal is political” has resonated so well throughout decades of feminist activism. It is crucial that our activism is grounded in the experienced oppression of marginalized groups of people. 


The 2021 documentary Dying to Divorce does just that. The documentary follows two court cases handled by the Turkish attorney and activist Ipek Bozkurt, who is part of the “We Will Stop Femicide Platform”, a Turkish feminist advocacy group. 

 

“That’s Turkey. In this country, women are slaughtered”



The documentary follows Arzu's recovery and legal battle after surviving domestic violence. Arzu was married off at 14 by her farther, and is the mother of nine children, three of whom died. After she found out that her husband Ahmet had a mistress, sha asked for a divorce. As the title “Dying to Divorce” suggests, Arzu suffered greatly for this. Her husband short her legs and arms, leaving her facing the loss of all limbs. Meanwhile, Ahmet evaded legal repercussions due to the flawed, patriarchal justice system in Turkey. A common practice in Turkey is to reduce the sentences of men who commited femicide, and violence against women. As Ipek notes, “justice dies when a sentence of femicide is reduced.”  


 


Another woman that shares her experience of violence in the documentary is Kübra. Kübra was a successful journalist in England, before she moved back to Istanbul and got married. Kübra was violently assaulted by her husband in an argument after she gave birth to their daughter. She suffered a brain injury that left her severely impaired. Despite this, no justice was served. The documentary shockingly depicts how the medical and legal system in Turkey is protecting the male abusers, whilst failing to support survivors of gender-based violence.  

 

The film closely captures how Turkish women are systematically abused at every level of the personal, as well as the political level. It gives Turkish women a platform to share their experiences of violence and oppression, and powerfully connects the worrying trend of loss of democracy in Turkey, to gender-based violence, femicide, and patriarchal suffocation. 


 “We will continue to fight until women stop being murdered”

 

The documentary leaves the audience with feelings of heartbreak and anger. Justice has not been served. The number of femicide in Turkey is still growing. Activists and lawyers are still being arrested and silenced for their work. 


Yet, despite this, the documentary also gives us hope. It meaningfully shows why the personal is political, and why we need to listen to the stories of woman and survivors of gender-based violence. It is as essential as ever to engage in the fight for gender equality and democracy. 


I highly encourage anyone to watch the documentary Dying to Divorce and to support the feminist fight in Turkey, and anwhere else. 


The images included in this post are screenshorts taken from the film "Dying to Divorce". 


This blog post was written by Lea Niewerth, intern at WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ARTivism for Change: Creativity as Resistance at CSW69

Artwork "Who can I trust with my story?" from ArtVism in Uganda During the 69th CSW, the Our Voices Our Futures (OVOF) consortium organised a creative ARTivism for Change space where bold protest sign-making, intimate film screenings, and thought-provoking feminist dialogues blended together. Over two days, March 12 and 13, 2025, artists, activists, and allies transformed the space into dynamic real-life canvases of empowerment, solidarity, and cultural and political resistance.   In the main space of the Blue Gallery participants engaged with various stations, including Button Making , Journaling with Art , Drawing , and Protest Sign Making . Participants moved between activities, creating powerful messages of resistance and hope. The creativity extended beyond the activities themselves. Access Denied The ACCESS DENIED campaign , initiated by WO=MEN, was set up to be a photo installation. It highlights the deep gap between the inclusive vision set forth at the 1995 Beijing ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Women in Politics: Choosing between Ambition and Safety?

At the CSW69 NGO Forum's session Accelerating Progress By Addressing Barriers To Leadership And Democratic Participation examples of barriers for participation and programs and policies that promote inclusion where shared by speakers from Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.   Evidence shows that barriers such as limited access to mentors and networks, lack of flexible work arrangements, and harassment and discrimination all limit women's participation and advancement in leadership roles. “In a democratic society, it is necessary to display a fair distribution of men and women at all levels of decision-making,” Jenny Gulamani-Abdulla, Co-Founder of the Canadian Federation For Citizenship (CFC), shared. CFC works to ensure that all residents of Canada are embraced, included and respected as all Canadians to participate in Canada’s progress. According to her “participation is what leads to opportunities to lead” . Furthermore, she shared success stories about mentorsh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Access Denied Campaign

Following many concerns and calls for support received from activists who were not able to come to New York, WO=MEN – jointly with members and partners - took the initiative to launch a campaign to call attention to the exclusion of defenders from meaningfully participating in the CSW: ACCESS DENIED! “Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women’s perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.” - Beijing Platform for Action The ACCESS DENIED campaign seeks to address the stark contrast between Beijing’s call for participation of women back in 1995 already and the reality of exclusion faced by many activists who had wished to be here at this 30 year anniversary of Beijing. Particularly activists from the global South , black and brown women, women with disabilities, youth, trans and gender non-binary people, sex workers and undocumented migrants face exclusion. Denied access due to visa obstacle...
Post a Comment
Read more