--- description: Turkish police fired rubber bullets in Istanbul as they broke up a gathering to mark International Women's Day title: Turkish Police Fire Rubber Bullets at Women Protesters image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt874dd0c2144ae56f/698880720a4a225f8d9c8b18/rts9ii6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Turkish Police Fire Rubber Bullets to Disperse Women's Day Demonstrators by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 3:37 AM CUT  Demonstrators are stopped by the police during a protest ahead of the International Women's Day in Istanbul on March 6, 2016 Demonstrators are stopped by the police during a protest ahead of the International Women's Day in Istanbul on March 6, 2016Osman Orsal—Reuters by [Simon Lewis](/author/simon-lewis/) ## Simon Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 7, 2016 3:37 AM CUT Turkish police [fired rubber bullets](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/international-women-s-day-rally-turkey-turns-violent-n532926 "undefined") and detained at least one woman in Istanbul on Sunday as they broke up a gathering to mark this week’s [International Women’s Day](http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ "undefined"). Reuters reports that hundreds of women came out to highlight issues of domestic violence and low female participation in the workforce, despite a ban on the demonstration by Turkish authorities, who have come in for criticism from the U.N. and others for their handling of gender inequality. Plainclothes police officers reportedly manhandled the women before riot police fired rubber bullets to disperse crowd. “You see the power of women,” protester Guris Ozen told Reuters. “We are here despite every obstacle and we will continue to fight for our cause.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/international-women-s-day-rally-turkey-turns-violent-n532926 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4249181/turkish-police-rubber-bullets-womens-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4249181/turkish-police-rubber-bullets-womens-day/"},"headline":"Turkish Police Fire Rubber Bullets to Disperse Women's Day Demonstrators","datePublished":"2016-03-07T03:37:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:39:50.735Z","description":"Turkey has come in for criticism from the U.N. and others for its handling of gender inequality","url":"https://time.com/4249181/turkish-police-rubber-bullets-womens-day/","keywords":["women","Turkey","International Women's Day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt874dd0c2144ae56f/698880720a4a225f8d9c8b18/rts9ii6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simon Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/simon-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt874dd0c2144ae56f/698880720a4a225f8d9c8b18/rts9ii6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Demonstrators are stopped by the police during a protest ahead of the International Women's Day, in Istanbul","caption":"Demonstrators are stopped by the police during a protest ahead of the International Women's Day, in Istanbul","creditText":"Osman Orsal—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4249181/turkish-police-rubber-bullets-womens-day/","name":"Turkish Police Fire Rubber Bullets to Disperse Women's Day Demonstrators"}}]}] ```