Queering the lived experiences of violence against queers in Turkey

This PhD research project examines the diverse forms of violence, violations, and exploitation experienced by queer sex workers, queer refugees, and local queer individuals in contemporary Turkey, focusing on how violence influences their daily lives. Through narrative interviews, the project highlights experiences ranging from sexual assault to psychological abuse, hate speech, economic struggles, epistemic violence, and institutional neglect. Rooted in feminist violence studies and queer theory, it goes beyond conventional views of gender-based violence, understanding violence not only as isolated physical attacks but as part of a broader continuum that includes overlapping and often invisible forms of harm rooted in unequal power dynamics and intersectional inequalities. By conducting narrative interviews and centering the lived experiences of marginalized queer people, the research demonstrates how gender-based violence functions at interpersonal, social, and state levels—both offline and online and in-between spatiotemporally—and explains why ignoring violence against groups such as queer individuals, sex workers, and queer refugees is not accidental but deeply political, making certain lives disposable and certain forms of violence unrecognizable.