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INTRODUCTION
In this report, we present the evaluation of the
results of the survey to serve as the basis for the
project aiming at improving women’s human rights.
As you may be aware, our team did not participate in
the formation of the questions and the sampling,
implementation of the survey and the basic computer
analysis of the collected data. Our assessment has
been based on the questionnaire formed and
implemented by UN and ANAR.
he Survey Report consists of three basic sections.
The first section includes the evaluation by
separate provinces. The second one accommodates the
comparative results and basic assessments. The
third section presents the recommendations for
implementation, derived from the results of the
survey.
The second and the third sections of this report are
deemed to complement the report for each province.
The stakeholders in any province shall analyze their
own province comparatively and be advised of the
common recommendations upon reading the report for
their province. Hence, although separate reports
are drafted for the provinces, the second and third
sections aim at presenting the overall picture for
the project.
In drafting the reports, contents have been
associated as much as possible with the major
motives of the project, focusing on being
target-oriented, as well as being comprehensive.
Comparative Results for the Provinces
In this section, results obtained from the provinces
are compared, taking into consideration also the
overall results of the project.
Human Rights of Women
In Turkey, women’s human rights are safeguarded by
the constitution and the legislation. Considering
all provinces at large, those who are aware of the
laws stating that women and men are equal citizens
represent a ratio over 80%. On the other hand, the
provinces can be divided into two main groups in
terms of women who stated that they were not aware
of such laws. The first group includes Şanlıurfa
(16.2%), Van (14%) and Kars (13.2%) and the second
group includes İzmir (5%), Trabzon (6.3%) and
Nevşehir (7.8%). The difference between the two
groups of provinces arises also in legal terms such
as equal rights of inheritance or equal wages.
In all the provinces except for Şanlıurfa, 90% of
women state that there is a women’s rights problem
in Turkey and, again at a high percentage level,
they demand that the required policies are developed
to solve this problem and ensure equality of women
and men. Women in Şanlıurfa fall behind in
demanding equality and elimination of their
problems, compared to other provinces. At this
point, it would be required to note that 38.4% of
the women in the Şanlıurfa sampling were illiterate.
Looking at the survey data for the provinces in the
first group, we see that Şanlıurfa, Van and Kars
have the lowest ratios in terms of literacy level
and elementary school education. It becomes evident
that both the language barrier and illiteracy and
low educational level pose serious problems for
women in becoming aware of their rights. We would
like to draw your attention at this point to a fact
that is true for women and, at a greater percentage,
true for men, as well. A generally valid tendency
is that such values become less equal when families
and personal life are approached. In other words,
even if values concerning the equality of women and
men are accepted as public realities, the situation
changes when people’s own families are concerned --
in which case such values are transformed into
traditional judgments and values.
Violence and Protection from Violence
In this section, violence will be analyzed under two
headings – honor killings, which is widespread in
our country, even if as a regionally arising problem
for the most part, and violence in daily life and in
the family.
All women except for the Şanlıurfa sampling identify
violence other than honor killings as crime against
humanity at ratios exceeding 90%, whereas in
Şanlıurfa, only 61% of men and 73% of women agreed
with this evaluation. The correlation between the
prevalence of honor killings in the area and the low
ratio of agreement is remarkable. Which is much
more striking is that 26.8% of women and 30.5% of
men in Şanlıurfa approve of punishment deriving from
accepted practice. In Van, the level of such
approval reaches 13.5% for women and 23.1% for men,
although not as high as in Şanlıurfa.
On the other hand, 41.3% of men and 32.5% of women
in Şanlıurfa abstain from expressing an opinion in
this respect (in Van, these ratios are 22.4% and
16%, respectively). Although this segment of people
state that they are aware of honor killings being
crimes, when a person from their own families act in
breach of a traditional practice, they remain silent
and can not provide a clear reply when asked how
these people should be punished. As a result of the
survey, it became evident that a very large segment
in our country places great importance to the
concept of family honor. Nevertheless, in the other
provinces, and especially among women, helping the
victim is quite common. Correspondingly, the
tendency to choose not to punish although severing
his relations with the victim is picking up
strength.
Secondly, we should stress that violence is quite
common within the family and in the daily life. The
kind of behavior considered as violence differs to a
great extent among the provinces, while the
differences between the opinions of women and men
from the same province tend to remain at relatively
negligible levels. We can say that the province
with the lowest level of perception concerning
violence is Şanlıurfa, parallel to the attitudes in
this province towards honor killings. This shows us
that behavior perceived as pressure or violence in
the other provinces, such as insult or restraining
to work, is perceived as a common practice in
Şanlıurfa.
Nearly one fifth of women stated that they were
subject to violence. 60% of the women who were
subject to violence in İzmir and 85% in Şanlıurfa
stated that the perpetrator of violence was their
husbands. While the general tendency among women is
not legitimizing violence against women, those who
reject violence under all circumstances vary
according to provinces, with Şanlıurfa with the
lowest ratio (32.7%) and Kars, the highest (81.7%).
The importance of establishing shelters for women
is underlined once again, taking into consideration
the prevalence of both notions of violence
together. As a matter of fact, four fifth of women
(with Şanlıurfa being the highest with 95%) deem
opening of shelters imperative and vital. Although
the family protection law throws the perpetrator of
violence out of the house, this measure falls short
in terms of preventing honor killings. That is,
once the family takes the decision, if the victim is
not protected, another family member takes on the
act of execution. Legal measures fall short in
precluding the problems women are faced with also in
other aspects. First of all, if a woman does not
have an income, she is faced with a serious living
problem once the husband is expelled from the house.
To the contrary, in a province such as Şanlıurfa,
the number of large families is quite high, in which
case the woman is punished by the husband’s family.
Improvement of Local Administrations and Services
The
level of awareness of women of the services offered
for women by local administrations is very low.
Nevşehir
has the highest ratio with 23.5%. In the second
group, there is İzmir with 18.8% and Şanlıurfa with
18%. In the other three provinces, the ratio of
women who are aware of such services is 10% or
below. The most widely known of the services
offered is vocational courses (Şanlıurfa 58.6%,
Nevşehir 71.2%). In the provinces with high
illiterate population, the demand for vocational
courses is followed by the demand for literacy
courses. On the other hand, in İzmir where such
services are quite developed and diversified, the
kinds of services offered are known quite well.
Women usually do not make direct requests to
municipalities. The highest ratio of direct
requests is seen in İzmir with 18.8%, followed by
the women of Şanlıurfa with (13.8%). The women of
Nevşehir have the lowest ratio (5.4%) in this
respect. The level of direct requests depend upon a
variety of factors including the educational level,
family structure, real estate ownership and the
tradition of seeking remedy.
Only a minority of women falling in the range of
between one fourth and one fifth are of the opinion
that the municipalities offer an adequate level of
services for women. Opinions of women in this
respect are relatively more positive in İzmir,
Şanlıurfa and Kars. The number of women who
complain from the inadequacy of the municipal
services is as high as the demands from
municipalities and other public authorities.
Several services are demanded including literacy
courses, nurseries for children, street markets,
sports facilities, female doctors and rest homes for
the elderly. Furthermore, women articulate their
demands in a very determined manner and follow them
up quite effectively. Women and men are of the
opinion that women should definitely take part in
municipal administrations at a ratio exceeding 85%
in Nevşehir, Van, Kars and Trabzon. This ratio is
lower in İzmir (70.5%) and Şanlıurfa (52.6%). In
İzmir, women are open to public life and thereby
they are probably used to working in male-dominant
fields. In Şanlıurfa, on the other hand, they are
confined to their houses and far away from public
life and thereby probably not interested in the
municipality anyway.
Women managers and employees working at
municipalities are very influential in terms of
ensuring efficient public utilities and services
such as water, gas, transportation, garbage
collection and street cleaning, which are directly
related to daily life. Women want to have more
authority in this area, as these services are
related to areas women are familiar with and
experienced in. Women managers and employees
working in these fields would increase women’s
demand for service in these fields and facilitate
their benefiting from and participation in the
offering of such services.
An interesting finding is that over two thirds of
the women voters in Nevşehir, Van, Trabzon and Kars,
and approximately half in İzmir and Şanlıurfa,
stated that they would vote for a municipal
administration which is sensitive to women’s wants
and needs, even if it is not from the political
party they supported. Men stated that they were
also more or less of the same opinion.
Consequently, it may be emphasized that placing
importance upon addressing women’s wants and needs
in local services would generate a significant
potential of votes for local administrators.
Participation in Decision Making Processes
This survey, just like several others, reveals very
high voting rates for women. In İzmir, which is one
of the most developed provinces of Turkey, women who
stated that they cast their votes represented 80%.
A segment ranging between two thirds and three
fourths stated that they would vote for women
candidates in the elections, even if women
represented a higher ratio in this segment.
Obviously, these facts are among the most important
indicators of women’s wishes for participating in
decision making processes. As a matter of fact, a
segment of women ranging between one thirds and one
fifth stated that they would like to enter
politics. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out
that the ratio of women who stated that they did not
like politics is higher than those who stated that
they would like to enter this field. In Van,
Şanlıurfa, Nevşehir and Trabzon, the ratios double
the ones for Kars and İzmir. Contrary to the
general acquiescence, the ratio of women who cited
restriction by their husbands or family
responsibilities as the reasons for not entering
politics is quite low in all of the provinces. It
turns out that the most significant reason for
staying away from politics is lack of an adequate
level of education.
Obstacles encountered upon increasing participation
levels of women in politics are perceived in
different ways. First of all, gender differences
are as important as the differences between
provinces. While in the provinces such as Van and
İzmir the factor of male dominance is cited with
honesty, in others, lack of interest (Trabzon),
passivity (Van) and uneducatedness (Şanlıurfa) of
women are put forward. Self-accusing attitudes of
women are also very remarkable. In many provinces,
women specifically state that they are uneducated (İzmir,
Van), uninterested (Trabzon) and passive (Kars) in
the area of politics. Within this framework, the
importance of motivating women for education and
participation in politics come to the foreground.
Another way of participation would be participation
in the activities of non-governmental organizations,
thereby taking part in decision making processes.
In this sense, the provinces are divided into two.
In Şanlıurfa and Kars, survey participants informed
of associations, foundations or similar
organizations engaged in women’s issues represent 7%
and 9.6%, respectively. This ratio is higher in
Trabzon (20.2%) and İzmir (27.6%). On the other
hand, two thirds of those who are informed of the
existence of such organizations do not have detailed
information concerning the activities of any
organization or can not cite any names of such
organizations.
The recognition level of non-governmental
organizations is quite low even in İzmir, which is a
socio-economically developed province. Whereas,
facilitation of women’s entrance in politics and
taking part in the decision making processes depend
largely upon spreading of such organizations and
increasing of their activities.
Employment and Working Life
We know that participation of urban women in the
workforce is quite low in Turkey. According to the
survey findings, the ratio of women who work at a
paid job ranges between 17.3% in Şanlıurfa and 24.5%
in İzmir. Other surveys held in Turkey reveal that
female university graduates have a much higher
participation rate in the labor market.
Consequently, the ratio of university graduates in
the sampling turns out low in Şanlıurfa (6.7%) and
high in İzmir (22.5%).
The reasons for women and men for not working are
distinctly different from one another. Similarly,
the differences between the provinces are
remarkable, as well. 32.1% of the women in
Şanlıurfa and 39.2% in Nevşehir stated that they did
not work because their husbands did not let them
to. The ratio of women who cited family or husband
related reasons for not working in these two
provinces were 73.6% and 57.1%, respectively. The
second group includes Trabzon and Van. The ratio of
women who did not work due to restriction by their
husbands is 18.6% and, in Van, 12.9%. However,
restriction by the family reaches 41.5% in Trabzon
and 38.8% in Van. In the third group, we can look
at İzmir and Kars. In these provinces, the major
reason for not working is failure to find a job.
24.9% of the women in İzmir and 45.7% in Kars cite
this reason for not working. Again in these two
provinces, restriction by the family is quite low
(27.9% in İzmir and 20.4% in Kars). The major
factor that Kars differs from Van and Şanlıurfa is
that although the ratio of university graduates is
8%, secondary education graduates is much higher
than in the other three provinces. This shows us
that, depending on the local circumstances,
graduation even from secondary education may be
effective in taking part in the labor market.
As stated previously, vocational training
facilitates participation in the labor market to a
considerable extent. We may group the provinces
within the scope of the sampling in two, in terms of
vocational training perspectives. The first group
comprises the provinces where those who do not
want vocational training are in majority, which
are Şanlıurfa (62%), Nevşehir (58.8%) and Van
(55%). The other group includes the provinces where
those who want vocational training are in
majority, which are İzmir (51.7%),
Kars (53.9%) and Trabzon (55.2%). At this point, we
may note that there is a significant improvement in
the secondary education level in Trabzon, which
influence women’s tendency to receive vocational
training and take more part in the economic life.
This distinction is reflected upon the content of
education, as well. While the women in İzmir want
to receive vocational training in technological
fields, such as computer training, at a ratio of
30%; the ratio decreases by one fifth in Trabzon and
Kars. In the other provinces, the priority is
placed upon tailoring, and computer courses remain
at marginal levels.
Working women stated that they were not subject to a
significant level of gender discrimination. The
highest level of complaints in this respect is
observed in İzmir (20.5%) and the lowest in Kars
(7%). However, it should be stated that such
discrimination is sometimes positive. The number of
those who complained from sexual discrimination
within the sampling is very low. However, in
answering another question, higher number of women
stated that there were sexual discrimination
incidents at their work places and therefore they
did not want to work. Resolving this prejudice will
certainly facilitate the transition of women to
working life.
In
this context, we may refer to a stereotype. In the
provinces within the scope of the survey, two thirds
of women and men stated that working women are not
welcome in their society. We observed that men are
more conservative than women in this respect in the
provinces other than İzmir. Despite such
manifestations, approximately 20-25% of women work,
and which is much more important, they want
to work and take part in the labor market at
increasing levels. The purpose of working is
contributing to the family budget and sharing the
burden of life with the other members of the family,
as well as manifesting oneself as an individual.
Development in this direction will bring about a
change both in the roles of women and men and in the
division of forces. However, the division of labor
in a traditional family entails the woman working in
the house and the man working outside to earn a
living for his wife and children.
Şanlıurfa scores highest amongst the provinces with
55.7% of women and %91.6 of men, in supporting the
statement that women’s place is home. The second
inline are of the provinces of Nevşehir and Van. In
these provinces, men mostly support the opinion that
they themselves should be the main bread winners for
the family, while half of the women are in the
opinion that men and women should share this
responsibility. In Trabzon and Kars, while men feel
like those in Nevşehir and Van, two thirds of women
are in favor of sharing the responsibility equally
between the spouses. In İzmir, on the other hand,
responces of women and men are very much alike.
In all the provinces, parallel to the low level of
women participating in labour force, majority of men
stated that they were the main breadwinners.
Majority of the working women, on the other hand,
have claimed to control over their own income. Only
in Şanlıurfa, 26.9% of women stated that their
husbands control their income. This finding may be
interpreted as an indication of strongly patriarchal
relations within families. In the other provinces
though, this ratio is as low as negligible.
Family and Familial Relations
One of the most important means to improve the
quality of living is family solidarity and ensuring
harmony and trust within the family. In this
context, the size and the composition of the family
become significant.
Although there may be differences between the
provinces, majority of male survey participants are
of the opinion that children assure the continuation
of marriages.
There are significant differences between the
provinces in terms of the number of children and the
desired number of children. In Şanlıurfa, 26% of
women have three or four children, while those with
over four children are 41.2%. These ratios are
31.6% and 5.3% in Nevşehir, 28.3% and 19.2% in Van,
27.1% and 4.9% in Trabzon, 27.2% and 12.3% in Kars
and 12% and 0.9% in İzmir, respectively. As
observed, there are significant differences between
the eastern and western provinces. The reports of
the provinces reveal that the most important factor
determining the number of children is the
educational level of women.
On the other hand, while the desired number of
children by women in the other provinces within the
scope of the survey is limited to two, one third of
men and women in Şanlıurfa want more than four
children. This tendency will surely generate
significant demographic results for the future.
The survey results indicate that financial problems
are the most important reason for not sending girls
to school. While the ratio of families who don’t
send their daughters to school remains at five or
six per cent in all the provinces, it reaches 15.6%
in Şanlıurfa. A much more striking fact is that
while poverty was cited as the reason for not
sending girls to school in all the other provinces,
in Şanlıurfa amongst men there is a tendency that
they were against schooling of girls. The ratio of
families not sending their daughters to school is
also relatively high in İzmir (6.8%), this may be
due to factors such as migration and urban poverty.
The number of children has a great influence on the
living standards of families. For example, the
province with the highest ratio of survey
participants who stated that they did not receive
healthcare services was Şanlurfa (62.6%). On the
contrary, in Nevşehir, the ratio of women who stated
that they did not benefit from healthcare services
drops down to as low as 28.5%.
In all the provinces, over 70% of female survey
participants stated that they received information
and assistance on family planning from healthcare
institutions and personnel. The second venue for
receiving such information is the media. In
Şanlıurfa and in Van, the spouse and the family are
indicated as the source for receiving such
information. If we recall that in these provinces
men and women desired more children compared to
others, it becomes evident that the desired number
of children and receiving information from the
family circles on family planning are directly
correlated.
While the ratio of women who are of the opinion that
“a woman’s place is her house” is around 40% in Van
and Nevşehir, the ratio drops down to one third in
Trabzon, İzmir and Kars. In all the provinces
except İzmir, men are of the same opinion with women
at ratios exceeding sixty per cent. In İzmir and
Şanlıurfa, men and women seem to be alike on this
attitude. However, while very high percentages of
men in İzmir support women to open up to the outside
world and work outside the house; in Şanlıurfa, even
women themselves support idea that women should stay
at home.
The survey also dwelled upon certain prejudices and
widespread thinking patterns in the society. For
example, there is a significant tendency to tolerate
a man cheating on his wife. The ratio of those who
are of this opinion exceed one third of the female
survey participants in Kars and Şanlıurfa. Such
tolerance reaches the two thirds level among men in
Kars. As stated previously, in Şanlıurfa, approval
of honor killings, in other words, murdering of
women is accepted and tolerated by a noteworthy
segment of people. Even women, and sometimes more
than men, are of the opinion that this behavior is
acceptable.
In Turkey, the divorce level is quite low. An
important reason for this is the strong family
solidarity in our country. On the other hand we
know that, a very high number of women continue to
live together with their husbands, keeping their
problems within the family, even if they are
unhappy. We can easily say that such women endure
hard conditions because they know that they would be
faced with a very difficult life after divorce,
especially as they may have hard time to earn their
lives. In general, women refer to family problems
more than men. This concern lead women to accept
the difficulties of the family life -- even domestic
violence -- and continue their marriages. Hence, in
all the provinces, a segment of women and men
ranging between two thirds and three fourths stated
that they agreed with the statement that divorced
women are excluded.
Conclusion
Education, and especially higher education, plays a
very important role in the acknowledgement and
adoption of the values concerning the equality of
women and men. The point to underline in this
respect is the fact that education has a much
greater influence on women compared to men. In all
the provinces and concerning almost all subject
matter; as women become concious and knowledgeable
individuals with increasing educational levels,
their values change and they increase their
participation in the society and politics, they
become demanding in public institutions within the
framework of their civic rights, moreover they tend
to respect human rights in general and be more
demanding as citizens. While education has a
positive influence also on men, the relationship is
not as uniliniarly positive as it is for women.
Education does not only transmit knowledge, but also
helps the acquisition of new values. To begin with,
educated women are more aware of the equality
between women and men. More importantly, they
believe that the relation between women and men
should be based upon these egalitarian values and
they defend these values comprehensively. For
example, women who received formal education are
aware of their constitutional rights, oppose honor
killings, send their daughters to school, want to
take part in politics and have lower number of
children.
A very significant outcome of the increase in the
educational levels of men is the change in their
public discourse, which becomes more egalitarian.
In this framework, it may be pointed out that as
educational levels of men increase, their legal
knowledge also increase and they become more
inclined to accept the values concerning equality
between women and men at the public level. For
example, educated men know that women have equal
inheritance rights with men. Nevertheless, when it
comes to private living space and their own
families, men differ from educated women
dramatically and tend to embrace traditional values
at a much higher level. For example, a male
university graduate sometimes defends violence
against women or honor killings.
From time to time, similar results may be
encountered with women who received higher
education, even though at lower degrees. For
example, although a woman acknowledges the discourse
of public equality, she defends non egalitarian
values when it comes to private life. Another
example would be that a lot of men and women accept
constitutional equality, but at the same time
overtly defend that a man may cheat on his wife or
that women sometimes deserve domesticviolence.
Several surveys held in our country argue that equal
rights for women are questioned in private life and
family life. At this point, the significance of
family values and socialization concerning the roles
of women and men should be underlined. Stereotypes
are indoctrinated to girls and boys and it becomes
very difficult to change them later on. For
example, the roles of motherhood and housewife are
emphasized at extreme levels and, as a result, women
invest more on marriage compared to men. Likewise,
the perception that a woman’s honor is within her
family’s responsibility and many rights bestowed
upon men deemed inappropriate for women become quite
prevalent.
A similar process is observed in politics. Men
support women candidates – in some provinces, even
at higher levels compared to women. However, they
tend to explain women’s lack of participation in
politics in terms of women’s disinterest on the
issue, rather than their (men’s) limiting attitudes
and roles. Meanwhile, women cite lack of an
adequate level of education as the reason for their
nonparticipation in active politics. Morover,
university graduates are majority among women who
wish to enter in politics. The previous research on
this issue have revealed that average educational
levels of women politicians are much higher than
that of men. In other words, women fail to make
adequate self-assesment, which points out to a
serious problem of self-confidence amongst women.
This certainly is an issue that has to be overcome
by women with the help of NGO’s.
The influence of the socio-economic status is quite
complicated in terms of the values on equality
between women and men. In certain regions, as the
income level increases, acceptance of egalitarian
values and attitudes also rise. The relationship is
cearer for women. However, there are also examples
of exact opposites to this trend. For example, in
Şanlıurfa, women and men with higher socio-economic
statuses display more conservative values compared
to those from lower income groups. Such tendency
may be associated with the source of income.
Prosperity driven from land and commerce urges more
loyalty to local traditions. In other words, upper
income segments make every effort to uphold their
powers and reproduce local values and norms. Their
local positions and reputations may depend upon
their role in perpetuation of these traditions.
An example to the contrary is İzmir, where modern
egalitarian values increase in direct proportion to
the socio-economic status. In this province, the
income that leads to an increase in the
socio-economic status is obtained usually through
professions or within modern sections of business
which is a result of an educational background, i.e.
higher education has tremendous influence on the
income level.
Participation of women in the working life is quite
low in our survey which is parallel to the overall
findings in Turkey. Despite the prevalent
stereotypes, women seem to be more receptive to
participation in the working life and sharing the
burden of earning a living. Still, men are of the
opinion that they themselves should be the main
breadwinners for their families. Two
particularities concerning the working life should
be underlined. The first one is contributing to the
family income and the second one is opening up to
the outside world and participating in the public
life. Women want to make greater contribution to
family and society than that is estimated for them
by men in both senses that is to say they want to
work outside and/or do marketable work at home to
generate income for the family for this purpose they
want to receive an education that will provide the
means to earn an income in the labor market. In this
framework, we want to draw attention to the fact
that failure to find a job has been claimed to be
due lack of an adequate level of education and
skills rather than restrictions imposed by husband
and family responsibilities..
The perception of violence was taken up as an issue
to be investigated extensively in all the
provinces. The following distinction can be made at
this point: Women are subject to violence usually by
their family members and especially from their
husbands, brothers and fathers. Men, on the other
hand, are subject to violence very rarely by family
members except by their parents. They face
violence from people other than their family such as
teachers, friends or bosses. Especially grown up
men are confronted with male originated violence.
In brief, the perpetrators of violence are men.
It is not possible to determine from the survey
results if local governments offer adequate services
for women in the provinces included in the scope of
the survey. Even if such services are offered, the
level of awareness concerning such services is quite
low. Yet, there is strong demand for diversified
services from local authorities. Vast majority of
women and men has stated that such services are
important and that they would vote for candidates
who would provide such services even if they are not
from the political party they regularly support.
We see that healthcare services are prioritized
among such demand. The results of several provinces
reveal that the desired number of children is much
less than the actual number. In this framework,
family planning gains ample importance. Information
on family planning is generally received from
healthcare institutions (especially by women). We
would like to emphasize the significance of reaching
women in this respect, as some men receive
information on family planning from their wives.
As a last but not least conluding point, we would
like to emphasize that women are open to change, and
the way to change women is through education. They
are more prepared to accept egalitarian values and
participate in the decision-making.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
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There is a great need in increasing local
services and especially those offered for
women. Both women and men have demands in this
respect. We would especially like to draw the
attention of elected officials to one issue;
supplying services for women and integrating
women themselves in the decision making
mechanism will attract potential votes.
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We had previously indicated that awareness
concerning the services offered by local
authorities is limited. If local governments
offer services for women, it is very important
that they publicize these services. In this
framework, the following means may be made use
of in informing the public on such services more
effectively:
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Announcements through local radio and newspapers
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Programs on local televisions
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Distribution of leaflets
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Informing muhtars and encouraging them to hold
informative meetings for this purpose.
Considering that women leave their houses or
neighborhoods much less frequently, it is very
important to reach them at their own districts.
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It would be appropriate for local authorities to
be informed on women’s demands prior to
developing the services for them. In this
framework, local governments should resort to
one or a few of the following methods:
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They may recruit an expert on gender and women
studies in their institution. This expert would
hold research and analyze the demands of women
in that district, being in dialogue with them,
and provide recommendations for the
administration.
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A service unit may be established to meet
women’s demands and offer them certain
services. This unit may, for example, offer
legal consultancy services and evaluate women’s
demands and present them to the administration
as projects.
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They may set up a women’s council with the
representatives from the municipal councils,
residential districts and non-governmental
organizations. There the local authorities would
have the chance to meet with representatives of
women, discuss their issues and develop
projects. A similar institution is being
currently piloted within the framework of
Yerel Gündem 21 (Local Agenda 21).
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Rendering services accessible is as important as
the offering them. Being aware of a service is
an important aspect of reaching it. Also, easy
and cheap access to such services, are essential
aspects. For example, if a vocational training
course is offered as a service, it must be
either free or at a very little cost,
transportation must be provided or the course
must be brought to the concerned residential
district.
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Violence and the perception of violence are at
very high levels in the society. Obviously,
primarily violence should be prevented as a
whole. Still , it exists and major part of women
are subject to violence from within their own
families, and mostly from the male family
members. Several surveys revealed that women do
not have any income to survive on their own and
thereby they are very weak. Protecting the weak
is one of the duties of the public. In this
framework and in line with the demand from
women, we recommend the local authorities to
open shelters for women. The current family
protection law expels the perpetrator of
violence from the house, so it is possible to
protect women at their houses, as well. But,
very few people are aware of this law.
Campaigns should be held to inform women on such
law and its implementation conditions. An
emergency telephone line to be launched at
provincial centers for information and
denouncement, reachable 24 hours and 7 days,
would facilitate protection of the victims of
violence.
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We would like to draw your attention to two
corporate demands directed at local authorities
-- nurseries and homes for the elderly. In
fact, these two institutions help to alleviate
the workload of women, and thereby open them up
to public to the social life and, especially, to
working life. In several provinces, both women
and men cited homes for the elderly as one of
their prioritized demands. nuclear families,
taking care of the elderly is becoming as an
increasingly aggravating problem and usually
women have to undertake this burden. This
demand will increase further in the future.
7.
We
know that women want to participate in the labour
force and contribute to the family budget. In this
framework, things to be done should include the
following:
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Provision of vocational training for women to
help them pursue a career in line with their own
preferences. The courses to be offered should
be decided upon as a result of a supply and
demand survey to be held in the labor market and
by taking into consideration women’s educational
levels, ages and work experiences.
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Opportunities should be offered for women to
gain an income by working both from home (for
example, knitting or tailoring) and outside. It
should not be forgotten that each of these would
have a empowerment effect on women. It would be
beneficial for local governements and
non-governmental organizations to actively
create recruitment opportunities and markets to
this end. Creativity in careeer opportunities,
diversification of business areas and products
is essential to prevent serious bottle necks in
marketing and recruitment problems.
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Apart from these, apprenticeship and training
quotas may be requested for women from private
courses and/or private sector businesses. This
would encourage women to enter the labor market
and also serve as a trial period for adaptation
to jobs for them.
8.
It
seems that women’s control over the family income,
including their own, if any, is limited. It is
imperative to give them authority in budget
management and income control. In this framework,
banks encouraging women to open accounts would play
an important role for motivation. Banks may furnish
special credit cards for women, add special benefits
to these cards (such as additional bonuses),
facilitate the provision of bank loans and implement
special interest rates for women. If accounts
opened by women prove advantageous, husbands will
support the opening of these accounts, as well. The
important issue here is to make women be accustomed
to make household budgets, to menage their own
income and make savings.
9.
We
observe that non-governmental organizations are not
known very well either. This lack of awareness may
be due to lack of prevalent and efficient activities
by NGOs in certain regions. In certain areas where
NGOs are very active, awareness levels concerning
women’s organizations and/or organizations serving
women may be low, as well. The following may be
done in this framework:
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NGOs should define their fields of activity very
well, open themselves up to more widespread
participation and publicize their services
better.
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Utilizing new methods in addition to the
well-known publicity means such as media,
leaflets and press releases may be instrumental
as a future-oriented strategy. Young women seem
to be very eager to learn how to use the
computer and the Internet. NGOs should start
using the Internet as a means of both to
publicizing and actually offering their
services. For example, a family planning
organization may use the Internet for both
publicizing itself and providing information.
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Women are eager to participate in the
decision making process and men state that
they are ready to accept this. However,
there is an important bottleneck in this
respect -- women who are most eager to enter
politics are the university graduates,
whereas, lack of an adequate educational
level is cited as one of the most important
drawbacks in terms of entering in politics.
This issue requires an in-depth analysis.
If what is meant by an adequate educational
level is lack of knowledge on politics, this
should be eliminated through
multi-dimensional training and information
dissemination (including interactive
methods). Participation of women in the
decision making process does not only mean
that women should be members of parliament.
Women should be encouraged to take part in
local decision making processes in the
coming period. They should start with
parent-teacher associations, district
councils and municipal councils. NGOs
should diversify their training programs so
as to include local politics, and local
governments should encourage women by
establishing women’s committees.
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The Internet will become a widely used means
of communication before long. As a means
that is capable of facilitating women’s
asking certain “unconventional” questions,
it has a liberalizing influence. For
example, asking the question “my husband
beats me, what are my rights in this
respect?” over the Internet is easy, but the
corresponding source for receiving the
correct and simple answer to the question
gains importance. NGOs and public
institutions must set up Internet sites
which would provide reliable information for
women.
With the consideration that the Internet may not be
available to all women, we recommend NGOs also to
set up telephone hot lines for information and
denouncement, by receiving support from the
government.
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