Women shelter left without funds

Mor Çatı (Purple Roof) Women’s Shelter Organization is being dismissed from the women’s shelter project due to "being unable to raise funds." The organization founded the shelter by signing a protocol with the Beyoğlu Municipality in 2005. The shelter will be run by the state from now on.

The 2005 protocol divided the roles into such: Beyoğlu was to fulfill the needs for salaries of personnel, costs of electricity, food, water and support from psychiatrists and lawyers as much as possible.

The Prime Ministry’s directorate for social aid was to offer financial resources for the project out of the budget of their own Social Risk Mitigation Project, or SRMP, run by funds from the World Bank.

The Prime Ministry, however, refused Beyoğlu’s demand for financial support for the project this September with the justification of "the project’s resources being limited with two years of time."

A final support of YTL 97,000 is transferred by the Prime Ministry and it is asked to continue the project with collaborators such as local foundations, institutions and civil society organizations.

Thus, Beyoğlu told shelter personnel that they would not be paid after the end of December and the monthly allowance of YTL 50 for women and YTL 25 for children has been cancelled.

According to Hasan Şenses, the administrator for Beyoğlu, the problem is Mor Çatı’s approach of demanding every contribution from the state: "If this is a joint run project, they should at least collaborate with personnel." Şenses said since they cannot obtain any solid contribution from the organization, it is decided to appoint social workers. "We will provide the lawyer and the psychiatrist and the services will continue to be offered," Şenses said.

’Not a necessary service’
State Minister Nimet Çubukçu made a statement Nov. 20 that the women’s shelter would continue within the scope of the Social Services and Child Protection Agency, or SHÇEK. According to Mor Çatı members, the problem is the state’s perception of the shelter not being a necessary service they should provide for the people but a project which would be actualized if only funds were to be found.

The shelter still harbors 17 women and 12 children. The five Mor Çatı employees are paid a total of YTL 4,500 every month. Mor Çatı Women Shelter at Beyoğlu is the only one run by a women’s organization.