Violence against women, which is a reflection of the unequal power relations between men and women that have existed for ages, continues to exist all over the world as a serious human rights violation and a serious social problem, regardless of cultural, economic and geographical boundaries. Within the scope of the Sabancı Foundation Changemakers Grant Program, to observe the effects of violence as a multi-dimensional problem on women living in Mardin province and due to the effects of violence and discrimination against women such as domestic violence, early and forced marriage, kumalık, berdel, honor killings on women, Under the leadership of Mardin Joint Women's Cooperation Association (MOKİD), women were made to have dolls reflecting the violence they experienced in their lives, thus trying to reduce the traumas experienced and providing psychological support to women. Within the scope of this project, women living in Mardin were also given the opportunity to learn about women's human rights, gender, communication, domestic violence. It is aimed to improve women's human rights by increasing women's awareness and knowledge on the subject by providing training on legal rights and addresses to apply.
All these negative situations experienced by women cause difficulty in making sense of the situation they are experiencing, not sharing the violence with anyone, and finding solutions. It has led to the development of some behaviors and dysfunctional beliefs, such as not believing that there is something wrong with them, and closing themselves off to their inner world. Again, due to these negative situations and ongoing cycles of violence, it has been observed that many psychological problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by psychological traumas have emerged. Unfortunately, the continuation of these problems is reflected in the children of women who experience these problems.
Women living in Mardin are given training on domestic violence, gender equality, civil rights and communication, and after these trainings, MOKİD's In the workshop, women were allowed to make their own babies, accompanied by a Specialist Educator, and they reflected the traumas they experienced in their own lives on these babies, and the fact that each baby had a story revealed the traumas that women experienced in their inner worlds, which they were not aware of and could not share with anyone. With your own situation These women, whose lives are unresolved, imprisoned in a vicious circle, and who struggle alone with the problems triggered by trauma, are constantly provided with both individual and group psychotherapies, aiming to help them experience awareness in their lives, and are supported.
While making these dolls, women created stories inspired by their own lives and sometimes by the lives of their family members or friends. This situation brings to light the situations that they cannot internalize and have difficulty with, and has enabled time to be saved much faster than individual psychotherapies. By gathering clues about what the problem is and how the individual is affected by it, it has contributed to following an effective psychotherapy method. Group psychotherapies, also carried out thanks to babies, enabled women to realize that violence against women is experienced not only in their own lives but also by many women, and they did not feel alone, shared their pain and supported each other.
The most surprising aspect of these dolls is that although the makers of Mesopotamian dolls are different, the stories show similarities and the dolls are actually grouped under 3 main groups. These; We can express it as the self that women have been in the past, the self they are now, and the self they want to be in the future. Time perception is actually a method of comparing one moment with another. Thanks to these babies, women have learned to use this method successfully. The fact that this method can be used in traumatized individuals is seen as an important advance.
By collecting the babies made by women and the anonymous stories of these babies in a book, this book examines the violence experienced by women and the traumas in their lives due to this violence and the effects of traumas in the family. It is aimed to realize the damage caused to society by its negative effects on children's lives.
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