Examination of non-governmental organizations combating violence against women in the context of feminist social work

Violence against women is a social problem that emerges as physical, economic, sexual or psychological violence, poses a risk to every woman, has survived from the past to the present and will continue to exist as long as necessary precautions are not taken and struggles are not carried out. Non-governmental organizations have a very important role in the fight against violence against women, with women's solidarity, awareness and advocacy work, and legal and social support. This research aims to identify non-governmental organizations that fight violence against women and carry out activities in the field of violence against women, to evaluate these organizations from a feminist social work perspective, to determine the perspective of non-governmental organizations to the problem of violence against women and to evaluate their effectiveness in combating violence against women. Qualitative research method was adopted in the research and the research was carried out by examining the websites of non-governmental organizations that fight violence against women and carry out activities to support women who are victims of violence in Turkey, which was selected by purposive sampling method, and conducting in-depth interviews with the people working in these non-governmental organizations. The findings were evaluated by content analysis. The findings obtained from the websites are discussed within the framework of general information, topics of focus, fields of activity, perspective against violence and its relationship with feminism. The interviews were evaluated by dividing the perspectives on women's issues, violence against women, the source of violence against women, feminism, feminist social work and state practices. In the research, it was found that violence against women, one of the women's problems, emerged as a result of the patriarchal system and violence was used for the continuation of this system. The source of violence is also based on the patriarchal system and gender inequality. It has been reached that feminism is the basis of non-governmental organizations that play an active role in the fight against violence and that the empowerment approach, which we can express in feminist social work, has been adopted in their practices. In the evaluation of non-governmental organizations regarding the laws created by the state against violence against women, it has been determined that there are serious mistakes and deficiencies in practice and steps are expected from the state to improve these practices. Keywords: Violence against women, non-governmental organizations, feminism, feminist social work