Melisa Aydinalp, 24, campaigns for women’s rights in Turkey. She often dawns skimpy swimwear to demonstrate women should be allowed to wear whatever they like in her home country
A model known as ‘naked girl’ over her scantily clad protests has vowed to continue her campaign for women’s rights.
Melisa Aydinalp, 24, is seen in the latest footage staging her protest in Istanbul, Turkey, in a revealing swimsuit marching alongside her friend who is completely clothed from head to foot in traditional Islamic clothing for women.
She is shown striding along the pavement, blowing a whistle while wearing a swimsuit with the message that women should be free to dress how they want and should not be subjected to violence over the choices they make in how they live.
In her social media posts, she says that women in her country are punished every day by restrictive policies and by what she calls society’s moral expectations.
She states that the system wants women to be seen only in domestic roles and that those who live differently are demonised.
Melisa also said that women who act according to their own wishes are excluded and judged and that those who are not afraid to speak out disrupt the system.
She carries handwritten signs drawing attention to the number of women killed by men as a grim reminder of the state of women’s rights in Turkey, especially after the country withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which was designed to protect women from violence.
Turkey pulled out of the Convention in 2021 after senior officials and conservative groups claimed it was being used as a tool to undermine traditional family structures and to promote LGBT+ rights under the guise of women’s protection.
Government representatives argued that international definitions of “gender” were incompatible with national values, with critics saying the withdrawal signalled a weakening of institutional commitment to safeguarding women.
Rights groups say the situation for women has deteriorated since the withdrawal, with femicide figures remaining high or rising.
Campaigners report that hundreds of women continue to be killed by men every year, and that suspicious female deaths have also increased, which they say reflects the loss of international oversight and obligations previously required by the Convention.
Her fellow model, Ecem Guvenciler, also 24, appears in a white bikini in one of the shots and in another is seen in a hijab.
One sign states that 394 women were murdered last year (2024). Another calls for officials accused of failing to protect women to step down.
Melisa says in her posts that she has been attacked, verbally abused and even faced criminal charges over her protests but is refusing to stop.
In the latest incident, police and prosecutors had accused her of indecent exposure before a court threw out the charges.
She says that women are more than being someone’s wife, mother or daughter and that they continue on their path with their own thoughts, creativity and voices.
The activist added that women face pressure every day and that it is not women who disrupt society’s morality but the patriarchal system.
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