Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı

What Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı does

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı (Foundation for Women's Solidarity) is an independent, nonprofit feminist foundation headquartered in Kızılay, Ankara, Türkiye. Officially established in 1993 (with roots in a 1987 Women's Debate Group and the opening of Ankara's first Women's Counseling Center in 1991), the foundation has operated for roughly 30 years on a horizontal, feminist "solidarity not charity" governance model and is currently in its 17th governance term under President Ceren Kalay Eken. Its core deliverable is the Women's Counseling Center, which provides free social, legal, and psychological support to women subjected to violence through a mix of professional staff and volunteers (lawyers, psychologists, social workers, translators). Complementary service lines include advocacy and awareness-raising programs, training workshops for public institution and municipality staff, volunteer network coordination, and a publication program producing monitoring reports, research, and educational materials in Turkish, English, and Arabic.

Historically, the foundation operated three women's shelters: the first feminist shelter in Turkey (1993), a second municipal-cooperation shelter (2003), and a women-trafficking shelter (2005–2016) that supported 286 women and 11 children; all three were eventually closed, primarily due to changes in local government administrations, and the foundation currently runs no shelter. Its underlying "technology" is human-delivered service and content production: there is no software product, no app, and no AI tooling — service delivery rests on trained professionals, a multilingual volunteer network, a direct in-person/online intake channel at the Ankara center, and a publications pipeline distributed via the foundation's website.

The business model is that of a Turkish vakıf (foundation): all services are provided free of charge to beneficiaries, and the foundation generates operating resources through voluntary donations, member contributions, and grant applications to national and international institutions (with past support from programmes such as the EU Civil Think Programme). Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The foundation sells no product and has no named enterprise customers; instead, it serves individual women experiencing violence, refugee and migrant women, students, and public-sector staff, and monetizes impact through fundraising rather than fees. Its go-to-market is community-rooted: volunteer recruitment, grassroots referrals, coalition-based advocacy (member of the Women's Shelters and Solidarity Centers Assembly since 1998, WAVE Network, European Women's Lobby Turkey Coordination, and the CEDAW/Istanbul Convention Turkey Monitoring Platform), and direct outreach via website, social media (Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube), email bulletins, conferences, and hashtag campaigns.

Name

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı

Legal name

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı

Website

https://kadindayanismavakfi.org.tr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı is an independent feminist nonprofit foundation established in 1993 in Ankara, Türkiye, providing free counseling, legal, and psychological support to women subjected to violence, alongside advocacy, training, and multilingual publications on gender-based violence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Women's Social Services and Gender-Based Violence Support

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD), Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Women's support services
• Gender-based violence prevention
• Feminist advocacy
• Women's counseling
• Nonprofit foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Ankara

HQ country

Türkiye

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı provides free social, legal, and psychological support services to women subjected to violence through its Women's Counseling Center in Ankara, operating on feminist solidarity principles. Beyond direct counseling, the foundation conducts advocacy and awareness-raising programs for public institutions and students, manages volunteer networks of lawyers and psychologists, and publishes multilingual research reports, monitoring reports, and guidelines on violence against women.

Product overview

Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı is a feminist women's organization established in 1993 that operates primarily through its Women's Counseling Center. The core offering consists of free social, legal, and psychological support services for women subjected to violence, delivered through volunteer professionals including lawyers, social workers, and psychologists. The organization also provides advocacy and awareness-raising programs, publishes research reports and educational materials, and facilitates volunteer networks. The Women's Counseling Center serves as the central service hub, supported by specialized support services and publication outputs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Women's Counseling Center (Kadın Danışma Merkezi) A free counseling service providing social, legal, and psychological support to women subjected to violence. Operates on feminist solidarity principles and offers initial interviews, risk and needs analysis, information sharing, planning support, referrals, and follow-up services, delivered by professional staff and volunteers.
• Legal Support Services Legal information sharing, guidance on mechanisms for combating violence against women, legal rights information, and referrals to relevant institutions, provided through the volunteer lawyer network of the foundation.
• Psychological Support Services Psychological support provided to women subjected to violence to reduce trauma effects, balance emotional states, enable decision-making about their own lives, and foster strength through shared solidarity, delivered by volunteer psychologists.
• Advocacy and Awareness-Raising Programs Advocacy activities including institution visits, public-civil society joint meetings, monitoring and evaluation reports, workshops for volunteers, students, and women in neighborhoods, and trainings for public institution staff on feminist principles and combating violence against women.
• Publications and Research Reports Books, booklets, activity reports, brochures, infographics, bulletins, and monitoring reports on violence against women, available in Turkish, English, and Arabic. Free to download from the foundation's website.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 600 applications received at Women's Counseling Center in 2021
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WAVE Network (Women Against Violence Europe)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of WAVE Network which brings together women's organizations combating violence against women across Europe. Participates in network activities and contributes to regional policy development.
• European Women's Lobby (EWL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of EWL Turkey Coordination with representation on the Executive Board. Participates in European-level advocacy for women's rights and gender equality.
• Women's Shelters and Solidarity Centers AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain component of the Assembly which brings together women's organizations combating violence against women in Turkey since 1998. Coordinates national advocacy and monitoring efforts.
• CEDAW and Istanbul Convention Turkey Monitoring PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of Executive Committee for NGO Forum on CEDAW and Istanbul Convention Turkey Monitoring Platform. Participates in preparing shadow reports on Turkey's official reports.
• Açık AÇık (Open Space Civil Society Platform)minorOthersPartner organization featured on the foundation's supporter network. Part of civil society ecosystem in Turkey.
• Şimdiki Barikatlar Olsun Sığınaklar (Shelters Without Barricades)minorOthersPartner organization in the shelter advocacy network. Part of coalition working on shelter-related policy and awareness.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• European Women's Lobby: Largest umbrella organization of women's associations in Europe; the foundation sits on its Turkey Coordination Executive Board. Comparable as an advocacy platform operating in the same women's rights and gender-based violence space.
• Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV): Major Turkish human rights organization treating torture survivors and documenting rights abuses. Comparable as an independent domestic rights nonprofit with monitoring/reporting and service delivery functions.
• Amnesty International Turkey: International human rights organization operating in Turkey focused on women's rights, among other themes; comparable as an advocacy and shadow-reporting actor in the human rights space.
• WAVE (Women Against Violence Europe): European network of women's organizations combating violence against women; the foundation is a member. Comparable as a coordinating umbrella advancing policy, monitoring, and knowledge sharing in the same GBV field.
• UN Women Turkey: UN entity advancing gender equality and ending violence against women in Turkey; comparable mission in the same GBV space and a likely partner/funding counterparty.

Regional players

• ÇATOM / KEFE (Cyprus/Turkey community centers): Multi-purpose community centers offering women's counseling, training, and shelter-referral services; comparable as regional providers of feminist social services to women in Turkey and the region.

Others

• CEDAW / Istanbul Convention Monitoring Platform: Coalition platform on which the foundation holds Executive Committee membership; comparable as a coordinating infrastructure that shapes donor and policy direction in the same GBV advocacy field.

Direct peers

• Mor Çatı Kadın Sığınağı Vakfı: Istanbul-based Turkish feminist foundation running a women's shelter and counseling services on solidarity-based principles; directly comparable as a peer feminist women's NGO serving survivors of gender-based violence in Turkey.
• KAMER (Kadın Merkezi): Turkish women's center federation providing counseling and support to women across multiple provinces; comparable as a domestic feminist women's rights service organization with similar counseling and advocacy model.

Emerging players

• Association for Women and Children Support (AWCS / Koruncuk): Turkish nonprofit providing shelter and educational support to women and children survivors of violence and abuse; comparable as a direct service provider in the GBV shelter space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kadin_dv
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCVvrmWPBJ3K6fgISlAXgJ4Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/kadindayanismavakfi
• Instagraminstagram.com/kadin_dv
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kad%C4%B1n-dayan%C4%B1%C5%9Fma-vakf%C4%B1

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Kadın Dayanışma Vakfı