A Feminist Approach to the Right to the City: Women's Empowerment, Public Space, and Gender-Based Violence

Öz

This article aims to contribute to theoretical debates on women's right to the city by reinterpreting Henri Lefebvre's concept of the right to the city from a feminist perspective. Drawing on feminist urban studies, feminist geography, and the literature on women's empowerment, it argues that women's urban experience cannot be understood solely through the public realm. Rather, a comprehensive understanding of women's right to the city requires attention to the relationality between private and public spaces and to the continuum of gender-based violence. Accordingly, the article conceptualizes women's right to the city not merely as a demand for access to public space or participation in urban decision-making, but as a theoretical and political intervention that calls for the transformation of the patriarchal gender relations shaping the production and use of urban space. It further examines the role of public space in women's empowerment, demonstrating that safety, mobility, and everyday spatial experiences constitute integral components of the right to the city. In doing so, the article contributes a more comprehensive feminist understanding of the right to the city.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• public space
• city
• women's empowerment
• right to the city
• violence

Kent Hakkına Feminist Bir Yaklaşım: Kadınların Güçlenmesi, Kamusal Mekân ve Toplumsal Cinsiyete Dayalı Şiddet

Öz

Bu makale, Henri Lefebvre'in kent hakkı kavramını feminist bir perspektiften yeniden değerlendirerek kadınların kent hakkına ilişkin kuramsal tartışmalara katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma, feminist kent çalışmaları, feminist coğrafya ve kadınların güçlenmesi literatürünü bir araya getirerek, kadınların kent deneyiminin kamusal alanla sınırlı olmadığını; özel ve kamusal mekânlar arasındaki ilişkisellik ile toplumsal cinsiyete dayalı şiddetin sürekliliği dikkate alınmadan kadınların kent hakkının bütüncül biçimde kavranamayacağını ileri sürmektedir. Bu doğrultuda kadınların kent hakkı, yalnızca kamusal mekâna erişim ya da kentsel kararlara katılım talebi olarak değil; kentin üretimini ve kullanımını şekillendiren ataerkil toplumsal cinsiyet ilişkilerinin dönüştürülmesini gerektiren kuramsal ve politik bir müdahale olarak ele alınmaktadır. Makale ayrıca kamusal mekânın kadınların güçlenmesindeki rolünü tartışarak, güvenlik, hareketlilik ve gündelik mekânsal deneyimlerin kent hakkının kurucu bileşenleri olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bu doğrultuda makale, kadınların kent hakkının feminist bir perspektiften daha bütüncül biçimde ele alınmasına kuramsal katkı sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• kamusal mekan
• kent
• kadınların güçlenmesi
• kent hakkı
• şiddet

Kaynakça

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