I. UNIFEM in the Republic of Turkey^[1]

Current Projects

Currently, UNIFEM does not support any specific projects in Turkey.

Previous Projects

• In 2001, the UN Trust Fund Project Rehabilitating Women’s Counseling Centers and Training Programme for Women Subjected to Violence to Increase Awareness of Their Rights and Services was launched.

• In October 1999, UNIFEM CEE supported a project on women home-based workers in Turkey to increase the visibility of these women among Turkish government agencies, the general public and research institutions. The workshop also aimed at developing strategies to implement the ILO Convention on Homework and a multi-prong research and action plan for future organization, cooperation and collaboration. As a follow-up to the workshop the Working Group on Women Home-based Workers (WG-WHW) was established to work for visibility of women home-based workers through the media and in national policy.

• In 1997, the UN Trust Fund Project Strategic Interventions to Eliminate Violence against Women in Turkey was launched to raise women’s awareness around issues of gender violence and provide tools to fight against it.

II. General Status of Women in the Republic of Turkey

• In the 2005 Human Development Report, the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) is calculated at 0.742, which ranks Turkey as number 70 out of 177 states. The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) is calculated at 0.285, which ranks the state as number 76.^[2]
• In 2003 the female literacy rate was 78.7% and the male literacy rate was 94.3%.^[3]
• The ratio of female to male earned income^[4] is 0.46.^[5]
• In 2003, the female unemployment rate was 10.1% and the male unemployment rate was 10.7%.^[6]
• In 2005, women held only 4.4% of the seats in parliament. The participation of women in government at the ministerial level was 4.3%.^[7]
• Turkey is a destination and transit country for women and children trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.^[8]
• In 2004, the European Commission noted in a recommendation on Turkey’s accession to the EU that violence and discrimination against women, including honor killings, is a major problem in Turkey.^[9] A study from 2003 by Istanbul Bilgi University estimated that 31.5 % of Turkish women were beaten by their husbands, while another study from 2000 estimated that 97% of women experience psychological and physical domestic abuse.^[10]
• Although the number of HIV/AIDS cases is fairly low, South Eastern Europe, including Turkey, experience quite high levels of risky behavior that suggests that HIV could strengthen its presence.^[11]

III. Legal Framework

• Turkey became party to the CEDAW in 1985,^[12] and its fifth periodic report was examined in 2005.^[13] The sixth periodic report is due in January 2007.^[14]
• In 1998, Turkey passed Law No. 4320 on the Protection of the Family, addressing victims of domestic violence.^[15]
• In 2001, the Turkish Civil Code was amended to improve the equality between women and men. The Code includes regulations on equality between spouses, raised minimum age of marriage and an egalitarian matrimonial property regime – that is, all added value of property acquired during marriage ought to be equally shared in case of divorce.^[16]
• Turkey is a candidate country to the European Union and accession negotiations were launched in October 2005. The government has made an effort to harmonize national legislation with EU Directives also in the field of gender equality.^[17]
• The amended Constitution (2004) as well as the new Labor Law (2003) both provide for equality and prohibit discrimination based on sex grounds.^[18] A bill on parental leave has been drafted.^[19]
• In September 2004, under strong EU pressure, the Turkish parliament approved a major reform of the Penal Code—including the adoption of more than 30 amendments that safeguard women's individual rights, sexual autonomy, and bodily integrity. However, despite the wide range of amendments, discriminatory provisions remain in the new law, violating human rights in the domain of sexual and reproductive rights in Turkey. The government has postponed the original effective date of 1 June 2005 so that a final review can be conducted.^[20]

IV. Institutional Framework

The Directorate General on the Status of Women and the Ministry of State for Women’s Affairs, Family and Social Services are responsible for coordinating and adopting national policies for promoting the equality of women and men.^[21]

V. National Action Plan

VI. Women’s Organizations in the Republic of Turkey

For a list of women’s organizations, visit http://www.stopvaw.org/Women_s_NGOs29.html?page=all

Footnotes and References