We Need to Talk Association has been fighting against period poverty and menstruation stigma in Turkey since 2016, under the leadership of İlayda Eskitaşçıoğlu and Bahar Aldanmaz Fidan, with the support of its team members, volunteers, donors, and sponsors.
OUR MISSION
We are aware that period poverty is much more than the problem of accessing menstrual products. With this awareness, we continue working towards our three main goals.
1. Enhancing the accessibility, quality, and sustainability of menstrual products in Turkey
2. Disseminating data collection and educational content creation on period poverty and menstruation experiences in Turkey
3. Adding comprehensive menstruation and sex education to the National Education Curriculum
OUR TEAM
İlayda Eskitaşçıoğlu
Co-Founder
İlayda Eskitaşcioğlu is a human rights lawyer and a Ph.D. student researching on international human rights law at Koç University in İstanbul, Turkey. She is an attorney at Ankara Bar Association, and currently a fellow at the Koç University UNESCO Chair for Gender Equality and Sustainable Development. She is the co-founder of We Need to Talk, an association which aims to fight against period poverty and menstruation stigma in Turkey. She has served as a member of UN Women’s Generation Equality Youth Task Force, and is currently serving as one of the 17 Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals, endorsed by the United Nations, as well as an international consultant for UN Women.
Bahar Aldanmaz
Co-Founder
Bahar is a sociology Ph.D. student at Boston University as a Fulbright scholar. She received her BA (2015) from Koç University studying both Psychology and Sociology. She then completed her Master’s degree in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago and wrote her thesis titled “Young Turkish Women between Modern and Traditional: Attitudes Regarding Marriage, Sex, and Equality.” Her research interests are reproductive justice, menstruation, and sexualities. Bahar also continues her work in the community as the co-founder of the We Need to Talk- an association based in Turkey working against period poverty and menstruation stigma.
Burcu Köleli
Visual Artist
Burcu Koleli is a multidisciplinary creative and freelance illustrator based in Washington, USA. She is a passionate intersectional environmentalist and feminist. Her illustration works combine digital and traditional mediums. They are inspired by daily life, activism, relationships, and nature. She creates inclusive artwork that celebrates women and nature. She is supporting We Need to Talk as a creative director.
Elif Köse
Elif Köse graduated from TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Department of Visual Communication Design.
She has been involved in different projects on content production in the advertising and magazine industry. She has undertaken project management and production processes for local and global brands. In addition to being a content producer in the fashion industry, she also works as an art director for brands.
She is the Communication Strategist at We Need to Talk Association. She enjoys producing content on women’s rights, gender equality, women’s health and menstruation studies. She aims to raise awareness on
issues that are seen as taboo all over the world.
Merve Köse Özbademci
Merve Köse Özbademci graduated from Galatasaray University with a dual diploma from Sorbonne University on economics major.
Since 2016, she has held various positions under the finance departments of international corporate firms such as General Electric, Insider, Inditex Group and Mondelez International. She has been working as Commercial Finance Manager for Turkey in Diageo Turkey since 2020.
On top, she is working as Sustainable Finance Advisor at We Need to Talk Association and tremendously happy to use her professional skills in a very
critical & active NGO in Turkey. Every single day, she wakes up with only one mission to reach more people and geographies together with the We Need to Talk Association.
She supports her mission by trying to create a financial model which is going to be a resource for more sustainable & longer-term plans in order to expand the sphere of influence of the association.
N. Zeynep Kayacan
Zeynep Kayacan is a sexual and reproductive health and rights activist with a B.A. in psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. She believes in comprehensive sexuality education that provides young people with a necessary toolkit of knowledge, attitudes, and skills to protect and advocate for their health.
She also focuses on the issues of LGBTI+ mental health and well-being while supporting an approach to therapy that embraces an affirmative view of LGBTI+ identities.
Currently, she is the general coordinator at the We Need to Talk Association that
fights against period poverty and menstruation stigma in Turkey.
HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US?
Donation
You can support our work by donating money or menstrual products to the We Need to Talk Association.
Volunteering
You can contribute to the efforts of We Need to Talk by dedicating your time, effort, and knowledge.
Sponsorship and Collaboration
Our door is always open to sponsorship, project, and field collaborations. You can contact us for your individual and corporate sponsorship proposals.