TURKEY IS ONLY SOCIETY IN ISLAMIC WORLD WHERE STATE ABANDONED SHARIAH, DELEGATION TELLS WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE

17 January 1997

Press Release
WOM/935

TURKEY IS ONLY SOCIETY IN ISLAMIC WORLD WHERE STATE ABANDONED SHARIAH, DELEGATION TELLS WOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE

19970117 As Consideration of Report Begins, Committee Told of Turkey's Commitment to Implement Beijing Platform for Action without Reservation

Turkey was the only society in the Islamic world where the State had abandoned the Shariah, and women's position before the law was the most egalitarian among Muslim countries, according to Yakin Erturk, sociology professor from Turkey's Middle East Technical University, who introduced her country's combined second and third reports this morning to the body that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The contradictions of globalization, modernization and traditionalism were reflected in the complex status of Turkish women, she emphasized in her statement to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. On one hand, they were visible in some of the most critical positions in Government. On the other hand, there were persisting disparities between men and women in access to vital development resources such as education, health and employment. Literacy and education for girls lagged behind desired levels, and women still suffered from poor health and a high risk of maternal deaths, particularly in rural areas. The majority of women were unpaid family workers or did unacknowledged work.

Turkey's social and cultural diversities were a source of enrichment, as well as tensions and contradictions, she continued. Religious fundamentalism and claims based on ethnic rivalry were two significant trends. However, the Government believed that a social environment which enabled the continued expression of diverse demands by women's groups, be they feminist, the nationalists or the Islamists, was dependent on preserving a secular society.

In her report, Ms. Erturk also outlined the achievements, as well as the difficulties, the Government faced in implementing the Convention. Discriminatory clauses in the Turkish Criminal Code had been removed, the Civil Code was being reviewed and special measures such as credit programmes had been implemented to encourage women's entrepreneurial activities. The

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Housing Development Administration had defined women as a special category to be considered for quotas in providing housing under easy terms of payment. However, there was a lack of effective legislation that undermined efforts to deal with violence against women and women were underrepresented in Parliament.

Responding to a series of questions previously submitted by Committee experts, she reiterated that Turkey had adopted without reservation the Beijing Platform for Action. By doing so, the Government had committed itself to changing some of the provisions in Turkish legislation which were gender biased and to removing the reservations from the Convention. It was also committed to increasing compulsory education from five to eight years, as well as eradicating illiteracy and reducing infant and maternal mortality rates by half by the year 2000.

Although the efforts towards realization of those commitments lagged behind expectations, especially in the rural areas, she stressed that considerable progress was under way. Most significantly, the national plan of action had been completed.

At 3 p.m. today, the Committee will reconvene to conclude its general comments and questions on the report of Turkey.

Committee Work Programme

The monitoring body for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women met this morning to take up the second and third periodic reports of Turkey on its implementation of the treaty (document CEDAW/C/TUR/2-3).

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed under article 18 of the Convention to submit national reports, one year after becoming a State party and then at least once every four years, on legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures to comply with their treaty obligations. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reviews the report and gives States parties general recommendations on eliminating discrimination against women.

According to the report before the Committee this morning, Turkey, a democracy whose population of nearly 70 million is 99 per cent Muslim, is the only Islamic country that is a secular State. It ratified the Convention in 1985, and now ranks 45 out of 130 countries on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index on matters related to gender. In 1926, the Turkish Civil Code was enacted, changing the legal status of women to give them what was considered at the time to be equal rights with men both within the family and as individuals in society. All gender-based legal restrictions on political rights were abolished in 1934, when women were granted the right to vote and be elected to the National Assembly. In 1935, 18 women deputies (4.6 per cent) were elected. However, in the 1995 national elections, only 13 (2.4 per cent) of the deputies were females.

As a result, one of the priorities of contemporary Turkish women's movement is to address their underrepresentation in politics, the report says. The Government has provided training programmes to encourage and support women's active political participation, and public discussion has focused on women's political attitudes towards such issues as domestic violence, war and poverty.

In 1990, the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women was established as a national mechanism to develop and implement policies on women, the report goes on. Since 1991, it has been working under a State ministry and eight of its nine ministers have been women. A draft authorization law to establish an under-secretariat of women and the family is before the national assembly and, following its enactment, the Directorate, which is also responsible for coordinating women's issues with other ministries, will have greater opportunities in terms of budget and personnel.

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When Turkey ratified the Convention, it put a reservation on article 9, paragraph 1, which provides equal citizenship rights to men and women, because it deemed it incompatible with Turkish citizenship law, which aims to prevent statelessness. Other reservations were put on article 29, paragraph 1, on the mandatory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice; article 15, paragraphs 2 and 4, which contradict clauses in the Turkish Civil Code on marriage and family relations; and also article 16, paragraphs (c), (d), (f) and (g) of the Convention.

In 1993, the Directorate prepared a draft law to remove inequities in the family law sections of the Civil Code so Turkey could lift its reservations to the Convention. Subsequently, the Ministry of Justice formed a "civil code commission" to draft amendments on such issues as legal domicile, determination of residence, a woman's surname, legal procedures for spouses, custody, descent, recognition, divorce and alimony. However, because of the lack of progress, 11 female parliamentarians proposed modifications to the law on matrimonial property, which is based on separate ownership of property for married couples. It works against women, because often, for traditional reasons, property is registered in the name of the husband. The Directorate is also working with the Ministry of Justice to rearrange other discriminatory articles in the Turkish criminal code.

The report details ways in which the Convention has been implemented in national laws. For example, article 159 of the Civil Code, which granted husbands the right to control their wives' professional or artistic activities, was annulled by the Constitutional Court in 1990 on the ground that it was contrary to the Convention. Similarly, in 1990, article 438 of the Criminal Law was repealed because it proposed reduced penalties for the rape of a prostitute. The Convention is also being applied in the rulings of the Supreme Court.

The report also examines Turkey's efforts to increase opportunities in the field of education. Centres for research and policy implementation have been established at several universities in an attempt to sensitize society to gender issues, as well as prepare educational programmes. Women's studies has been integrated into the Turkish higher education system and graduate studies opened at several institutions. Recently, women's voluntary associations have become active pressure groups and undertaken important duties to enhance public awareness of women's issues.

However, women's education has lagged behind men's. The female illiteracy rate is over 30.07 per cent and just over 10.01 per cent for males. The reasons include the patriarchal social structure, allocation of limited family resources to educate boys instead of girls, increasing internal migration, social and cultural erosion caused by irregular urbanization and regional disparities. In spite of the increased number of schools and the declining differences between rural and urban areas, gender inequality

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continues in primary schools and through higher education. Still, 35 per cent of university graduates and approximately one third of all professionals are women.

Turning to health issues, the report notes that women have a life expectancy of 70.5 years compared to 65.9 years for men -- which is low compared to the rates in developed countries. Maternal and infant mortality rates are also high in comparison to those of developed countries. Abortion is legal and the law allows voluntary termination of pregnancies up to 10 weeks.

Despite the consensus over the importance of women's participation in the labour force, both for their own development and that of their families and the economy in general, female employment levels are low and decreasing. The report cites the increasing urban migration as one of the reasons. Unskilled women in the cities have limited employment opportunities in the formal sectors and are concentrated in piece work, domestic and marginal jobs that do not show up in labour statistics. While 73.8 per cent of rural women work in agriculture, 88.3 per cent of them are unpaid family workers deprived of social security. Women civil servants benefit most from social security and make up 38 per cent of the pension fund. Only 10 per cent of the beneficiaries of other insurance plans are women. The Directorate has undertaken a World Bank-financed project on improving women's employment.

The report describes domestic violence as a "serious problem" in Turkey, which does not have enough shelters and services for female victims. There are two special women's information centres and shelters in Istanbul and Ankara and government hostels in seven provinces. Publications and research on violence against women by university and private research centres is increasing public awareness of the problem. However, work on sexual harassment is still very new and limited.

Turkey is making efforts to lift its reservations to the Convention and to adapt its domestic legislation to the demands of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as fulfil the commitments it made at the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). The country's seventh five- year development plan (1996-2000) includes strategies to ensure women's participation in all fields of social life "as individuals of equal status" and to advance their education, health, work, life, social security and employment, and to eliminate present inequalities.

The plan's legal and administrative sections include arrangements on such issues as domicile; head of the family; surname; representation of conjugal unity; marriage age; property system; inheritance; material possessions; civil marriage and alimony; equal separation of properties acquired during marriage; equal division of domestic responsibilities;

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rearrangement of the criminal and tax codes which violate equality between the sexes; and support for working women through maternity and pregnancy leave and child-care centres. Through such legal arrangements, Turkey will eliminate its reservations to the Convention and carry out its commitments made in Beijing.

Introduction of Report

ISILAY SAYGIN, Minister of State Responsible for Women's Affairs and the Family of Turkey, who is one of four women in the Cabinet, said that Turkish women had been among the first in the world to have the right to vote and be elected. Turkey had adopted the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) without any reservations and already formulated its national plan of action to implement the critical areas of concern in the platform. The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women was being upgraded to the level of Secretariat. The Government was also working towards full implementation of the Convention and planned to present its next country report as one of the States parties with no reservations to the Convention.

YAKIN ERTURK, Professor of the Department of Sociology, Middle East Technical University in Turkey, said her country of 70 million people represented the contradictions of globalization, modernization and traditionalism. A secular society with a predominantly Muslim population, it was the only State within the Muslim world that had abandoned the Shariah and women's position before the law was the most egalitarian in Muslim countries. Women's status in Turkey today was complex, with many faces, images and roles.

On one hand, women were visible in some of the most critical positions in government, she said. On the other hand, there were persisting disparities between men and women, as well as between different women's groups, in access to vital development resources such as education, health and employment. Literacy and education for girls lagged behind desired levels, and women still suffered from poor health and a high risk of maternal deaths. The majority of women were unpaid family workers or did unacknowledged work.

Some of Turkey's social and cultural diversities were a source of enrichment, as well as tensions and contradictions, she continued. Religious fundamentalism and claims based on ethnic rivalry were two significant trends. Various political movements had recruited women into non-conventional activities. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in its armed struggle against the system, had heavily militarized women in their ranks, and in 1996 young women were used to carry out suicide missions. Radical religious sects had also used women to their end. However, the Government believed that a social environment which enabled the continued expression of diverse demands by diverse women's groups -- feminist, the nationalists or the Islamists -- was dependent on preserving a secular society.

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Since the 1980s, the women's movement had demanded modification of discriminatory clauses in the Turkish Criminal Code and the underlying understanding that treats crimes against women in the context of "crimes against public decency and family order". She cited changes to laws such as the one which had allowed reduced sentences for rape of prostitutes. Special measures for disadvantaged women included special credit programmes by the Turkish People's Bank and the Turkish Bank of Foundations to encourage women's entrepreneurial activities. The Housing Development Administration had also adopted a gender sensitive approach by defining women as a special category to be considered for quotas in providing housing under easy terms of payment.

The persistence of physical violence against women remained a real challenge, she continued. Women's groups were providing counselling, legal representation and shelter to battered women. Government institutions had shown a willingness to increase public sensitivity of the problem and adopt efficient methods of handling abuse cases. But their response had been ineffective, and the lack of effective legislation to protect battered women had undermined efforts. However, supportive legal provisions were under way, including attempts to amend the Turkish Criminal Law to enable legal intervention in cases of domestic violence without formal complaint by the injured party. In November 1996, the Minister of Interior, responding to the demands of women's organizations, sent a written communiqué to all security forces, cautioning them to be extra receptive and attentive to cases of violence against women inside and outside the home.

Turning to the issue of women's political participation, she said despite Turkish women's early suffrage and significant changes in women's consciousness since the 1980s, their low levels of representation in the Parliament had resisted change. Women's groups were devising strategies to increase their numbers in Parliament. However, there had been unprecedented developments in women's political participation. Political parties were introducing quotas for minimum female representation in provincial and district councils and top-level administrative organs.

In the 1991 general elections, women's issues were an item in the campaigns and party programmes of the major parties for the first time, she said. More unexpectedly, the religious Welfare Party also recognized the need to address the secular female electorate. They underplayed religious rhetoric and used concepts like "women's exploitation" and "domestic violence against women". However, the unprecedented mobilization of women into the ranks of the religious party raised concerns that they would remain victims to a patriarchal ideology legitimized with religious benediction.

One third of Turkish women were still illiterate and the disparity was even more striking when rural-urban differences were considered, she said. The Government had committed itself during the Beijing Conference to achieving full female literacy by the year 2000. Educational gender inequalities had a

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direct impact on women's employment opportunities. Women's participation in the workforce had decreased from 34 per cent in 1990, to 30 per cent in 1995. The vast majority of women were unpaid family workers in the agricultural sector, and those in non-rural sectors were highly marginal and concentrated in women's occupations such as textiles, and the food industry.

Urban women in low income households worked mainly in the informal sector, which did not provide legal and social protection and benefits, she continued. Despite the bleak picture, there were promising trends. Women professionals were highly represented in the academia, medicine, dentistry and law. However, in many professions women were confined to the less prestigious positions. For example, female doctors were discouraged from becoming surgeons.

The Government was sponsoring numerous programmes to improve employment opportunities for women, including incentives to encourage low income women to start their own businesses, she continued. So far, it had not been possible to deal effectively with problems associated with credit allocation and cultural constraints on motivating women to enter non-conventional activities. The Directorate was also working towards the adoption of new legal and administrative measures regulating maternity leave.

There was no evident gender inequality in health as both Turkish men and women suffered from poor health conditions, although women experience them differently and maternal mortality rates were high, she said. Legal abortion reduced the number of complications to women's health. The Ministry of Health was adopting a policy shift which approached women's health as a totality, rather than in the context of reproductive health and family planning, and increased attention was also being given to women's mental health problems.

The "feminization of agriculture" was evident in Turkey, she said. Most efforts in rural development had been in south-eastern Turkey. The projects aimed to attack regional underdevelopment and community centres offered multiple opportunities for the region's women, such as courses in Turkish and literacy and specific skills training. Last November, a rural regional women's conference in the city of Sanliurfa conducted problem identification workshops for 80 women from Turkish-, Kurdish- and Arabic-speaking villages. It was the first time rural women of such diverse backgrounds had come together to speak for themselves. Their common problems were forced marriages, bride price, polygamy, and lack of employment opportunities. A women's organization has planned grass-roots activity in Sanliurfa in March to raise consciousness on combating honour killings.

Finally, she referred to Turkey's reservations to article 15, paragraphs 2 and 4, and article 16, paragraphs 1(c), (d), (f) and (g) of the Convention on the grounds that they contradicted the country's Civil Code. A draft law proposing a revision of the Civil Code would address its discriminatory

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clauses. The most significant change would enable women to use their surname along with their husbands'; each spouse would represent the conjugal union and jointly determine the conjugal home and share equally property acquired during a marriage. Once the draft law was enacted, Turkey's reservations to the Convention would be lifted.

Response to Written Questions and Comments

Responding to written questions previously submitted by Committee experts, Ms. ERTUK said the Turkish Criminal Code differentiated between rape of minors, rape of adults, and rape that violates virginity. In the case of rape involving virginity, the law was discriminatory among women. Similarly, a distinction was made regarding abduction of single versus married women. Articles defined adultery differently for men and for women; it also called for reduced sentences for acts of murder incited by adultery. The article on adultery had been annulled by the Constitutional Court and awaited replacement. Some women had argued for equal but severe punishment for adultery. Other groups called for a treatment of adultery within a non- criminal framework, including that it would be grounds for divorce.

There had been two statutory attempts to establish an under-secretariat for Women's Affairs and Social Services, she said. Both attempts were declared unconstitutional for technical reasons. A current draft law had been signed by Cabinet ministers and forwarded for review. The entire civil code was under review by a Justice Ministry Commission. It was a lengthy process but draft legislation was expected in the near future.

She said the compilation of gender-based statistics was being improved through the efforts of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women. The Directorate, although at the highest level of Government, received only meagre funding.

On affirmative action, she said Turkey did not have a formal policy in that regard, although a quota system has been adopted by two political parties. While the Ministry for Women's Affairs had expressed commitment to a policy, the intention has not materialized.

Turning to issues of violence against women, she said there was a need for legislation specifically addressing violence against women in the family. The media had programmes addressing domestic violence, and extensive research was being carried out on the nature of such violence. In a survey in the 1990s, 18 per cent of the women interviewed claimed they had been beaten by their husbands. Another survey of rural women in 1995 found that 76 per cent of women who lived in villages were beaten by their husbands, and the principal cause of beating was disobedience to the husband (39 per cent).

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Unfortunately, she said, the present legislation could not effectively protect women from domestic violence. It was difficult for women exposed to such violence to pursue their rights. Charges could only be brought against a spouse if the injured party made a formal complaint. A draft law now existed to amend the existing article. Women's shelters for the victims of domestic violence had been created. "Honour killings" -- collective acts within traditional tribal, social formations where families decide to persecute a girl/woman who has dishonoured the family -- were rare, although they had lately attracted national interest. More effective measures to eliminate the practice were expected.

In the area of education, she said the Directorate made recommendations to the Ministry of Education to eliminate stereotypical presentation of women and girls in school textbooks. There were no family education courses per se. Women's studies centres in universities had been very active.

She went on to say no special measures existed to protect women from prostitution and related hazards. Registered prostitutes were subject to periodic health examinations in State hospitals. Brothels were regulated by a law on general hygiene. Prostitutes, however, had less access to health, training and employment opportunities than other women, and there were no formal rehabilitation programmes. The attitude of the police was condescending towards prostitutes. Migrant women's involvement in trafficking was a non-issue. In 1994, there were 2.9 million Turks in European Union countries -- 1.9 million in Germany. Women constituted 45 per cent of the group, most of whom were married immigrants who followed their husbands.

Regarding women in public life, the former Prime Minister and current Deputy Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller, had appointed an unprecedented four women to ministerial portfolios. There were, however, only 13 women out of 550 parliamentarians. There were no explicit government initiatives to promote women to decision-making posts in the political sector.

Compulsory education had been increased from five to eight years, she said. However, over 28 per cent of the female population over age six were still illiterate. Turkey made a commitment in Beijing to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2000. Several measures have been undertaken and a massive literacy campaign had been launched. The measures would have to be intensified if the goal was to be reached. Turkey had accepted all agreements of the International Labour Organization (ILO) with respect to child labour. Contradictions in practice continued to exist. Considerable steps had been taken to improve conditions of child labour and eventually to eliminate it altogether.

She said there was a differential treatment of the work force in Turkish labour law because some jobs were deemed to be physically strenuous for women; it was within the framework of protective legislation. The Labour Code

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prohibited wage discrimination based on sex. No measures had been introduced to promote women into positions of management in the work force. No specific concrete steps had been taken to address attitudes that would correct occupational segregation in the work force. The issue of sexual harassment had only recently received public attention.

On health care, she said the Ministry of Health had been implementing many health programmes directed towards women and children in collaboration with international organizations since 1989. In general, health care infrastructure in the country was poor. Special measures were necessary for disseminating information about health and other issues to rural women. Conventionally, the midwife system had been the most distinct health service targeting rural women. Today, it had become an outdated system, without a satisfactory replacement. The Ministry of Health extended its services to rural areas through health centres in centre villages, which were often staffed only by a general practitioner and a technician. Traditionally, men have been less targeted than women in national programmes for reproductive health. In that context, men's level of knowledge on family planning was less than for women.

She said women had equal rights of ownership of property and autonomous control over their income. However, social practices did prevent many women from access to the fruits of their employment. There was a general inequality in wages between the sexes.

She reiterated that Turkey had adopted the Beijing Platform for Action without reservation. By doing so, the Government had committed itself to changing some of the provisions in Turkish legislation which were gender biased and to remove the reservations from the Convention. It was also committed to increasing compulsory education from five to eight years, as well as eradicating illiteracy and reducing infant and maternal mortality rates by half by the year 2000. Although the efforts towards the realization of those commitments lagged behind expectations, considerable progress was already under way. Most significantly, the national plan of action had been completed.

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