Time for equity, justice and change!

Dear all;

First of all; thanks for visiting my page and reading my story.

6th of April marks my 44th birthday (yes 44th! still can't believe :) and I was thinking about doing something positive for the society and community to celebrate it meaningfully.

Whilst I was exploring different ideas "naively" about supporting positive social change; unfortunately, two frustrating and tragic things happened in March which made me think even more deeply.

First one was the death of Sarah Everard in London. If it's happening in 2021 and in one of the most developed countries in the world (and I know it's not the only example sadly); then there's a very important point that we need to pause and reflect seriously about "violence" which can be physical or psychological and it can affect anyone of any age, gender, race or sexual orientation.

To be very honest; unfortunately, such tragedies are happening every single day in my home country. Turkey is a country where 3 women are killed daily & femicide stands as a huge human rights crisis.

Despite that; Turkey recently (and suddenly!) withdrew from Council of Europe Convention (also known as Istanbul Convention) on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Furthermore, Turkey ranks 130th among 153 countries in gender equality according to World Economic Forum 2020 Gender Equality Report; where 49.8% of the population are women. All the statistics such as female illiteracy; female labour force participation; female representation in top management positions (and political arena) are so low and remarkable for Turkey.

It's so obvious that the system isn't working, and we need to change it.

Considering all these facts; I decided to raise my voice on behalf of all women for justice and gender equality via my symbolic action; walking 500.000 steps in April.

I aim to increase the awareness of Gender Equality in every aspect of life and I will pledge all the donations to Turkey Mozaik Foundation, Gender Equality Fund. ( https://turkeymozaik.org.uk/ ) 

Personally, I find it very important to do something on this big issue that I care about and also give back to my home country while living here in the UK. Furthermore, I believe Gender Equality is a universal problem and everything we do; every action we take; will be important to change things.

Finally, on the 4th of May between 20:00 – 21:00 UK time; I will facilitate a free “Resilience Workshop” to talk about my reflections regarding 500.000 steps challenge; also, I will share my thoughts; experience and learnings about how to keep ourselves emotionally strong; resilient and positive despite all the challenges around. 

If you’re interested, registration is via this link: 

Resilience Workshop led by Ulku Akalin Tickets, Tue 4 May 2021 at 20:00 | Eventbrite

Would be great to chat with you, exchange and discuss ideas 😊

It's time for equity; justice & change and we are #strongertogether!

Thank you; 

Ulku