The post-shelter needs, expectations and future plans of women who stay in shelters: Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Women's Shelter example

Violence against women has been present all over the world and Turkey for ages however it has become visible after the women's act gained acceleration in 19th century. Then international regulations helped violence against women to be recognised as a violation of human rights and precautions to avoid this violence started to be taken. As a result of the women's act, women's shelters were established and later following the government accepting their responsibilities became wide spread so that women facing violence within the family may take shelter and set up a new life away from violence. It is considered that the strategies the women had used to cope with the violence that caused them to come to women's shelter, their experience in the shelters and the support given by the shelters and the time during which the women gain their strength have an influence on the women's future plans and dreams. The aim of this study is to set forth the women's expectations who stay in women's shelters in terms of their future plans after leaving the shelters, their life expectations and their dreams; their expectations from the shelters during their stay and after they leave the shelters, from other institutions, their families and social surroundings and the government in areas such as housing, job, income, child care, education, psycho-social support and guidance. During the field research done within the frame stated above, semi structured in-depth interviews were made with 24 women residing in Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Women's Shelter. The aim was to understand the service and support they receive during their stay in the shelter and their future plans after the shelter, their dreams and their expectations about starting a new life after they leave the shelter in terms of their experiences, their stories and their perceptions. The women residing in the shelter are of lesser education level with lower social-economical levels. Majority experienced violence from spouse and/or family members and sometimes some faced the risk of violence due to insufficient income hence were homeless. Most of them have pre-school children whom they have with them at the shelter and some had to leave their children when they escaped the violence and they want to get children to the shelter. The women tried different methods to cope with the violence they faced however they were not able to leave the violent environment because they lacked family support and economic potential, they didn't know about the existence of the shelter or that they could reside in the shelter with their children. The women who lack the economic potential need social support, gain economic strength and support to take care of their children so that they may be able to start a new independent life away from violence. Actually all women want to start a new life of their own but because they lack the necessary support to make this real, they think of either returning to their root family or try extending their stay at the shelter. The women demand their rents to be paid for a certain period or have a resident allocated for free or with a low rent. The women with younger kids demand a nursery school or a support to take care of their children after school.