Turkish women on Friday raised their voice for more justice and protested violence against women by performing a dance in Istanbul as part of the global campaign " One Billion Rising."

Hundreds of women gathered in Besiktas district and danced simultaneously with other participants of the campaign around the world. Besiktas municipality had provided free dance classes to the public for this event.

Eve Ensler, a Tony Award-winning playwright, initiated the campaign last year.

In a statement, organizers appealed to people all around the world to rally in open places "where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not."

"This is a global call on women survivors of violence to break the silence and release their stories through art, dance, marches, rituals, songs, spoken words, testimonies and whatever way they feel right," said the statement.

One in three women are raped or beaten in their lifetime, according to the United Nations. In Turkey, 136 women were killed in episodes of domestic violence in the first nine of months of 2013, and 802 women died over the past five years from domestic violence.

"The violence against women is one of Turkey's biggest problems, " said Peri Pamir to Xinhua while watching the dance show.

"In our country three to four women or girls are killed each day. This is something unacceptable. Our society is a patriarchal society, so to raise our voice is more difficult than in other countries. We request government to take preventive measures against violence.

"I am protesting here the violence against women. It is not something acceptable in this century, said a woman who declined to give her name to Xinhua. "Particularly, what we have been witnessing lately in our society is very frightening," she said, referring to the recent child bride scandal.

The situation is worst in the eastern part of the Turkey, said Filiz Kayikci. "We ask justice for all women who have been exposed to violence."

In 2013, 28,000 women were exposed to violence in Turkey, according to official data, and more than 50,000 women have been protected from their husbands or partners with precautions such as restraining orders. These incidents mostly took place in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

As of May 2013, the number of Turkish women under police protection due to domestic violence surpassed 11,000. Endi

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