Dear Amy,
 
I am a woman from Turkey and by your internet site I can feel myself as a woman. Because you can not guess under which circumstances I am living in my country.Here, most of the men hit their wives and they use us like a sex-toy. I do not know what to do. Really, I need help but I think I have no way to exit. I think to commit suicide, please do not tell me to live, I know what you can say. They don't work.I should run away or commit suicide.This is not considered as life. No. No.

What did I do to deserve such a life? My fault is to become a woman? Is that all? No. This world does not belong to one sex. I also should have right to live free. But in reality I am hit every day. Every day. The reason. Besides, beating someone can not be realized. Anyway, I did not want to take your time but I dared (I do not know why?). Thanks for your site. Please help the world...
 
Best regards,
 
Hamiyet from Turkey

Dear Hamiyet,

It sounds like you are in awful place right now -- both physically and mentally. I actually travelled around Turkey last summer and joked that I always saw the women working and the men having tea and playing games in the cafes. I joked with the men who were doing this and running the shops, but they didn't seem to think that it was funny. I guess they recognized in their own way how unfair it is -- yet not so much so that they were willing to take responsibility for their actions.

There are several international organizations who prioritize women's rights internationally -- including The Sisterhood is Global Foundation, Equality Now, Women's International Tribune Center, UNIFEM,
etc...and all will be much better positioned to help you than I am. In fact, I'm sure that each of these U.S.-based organizations knows of organizations based in Turkey that are doing this work -- that is work to end injustices against women.

I hope that you reach out to them and that they are able to help you out of this situation. Good luck and take care -- sometimes just speaking up makes a huge difference, I hope that's the case with you.

—Amy