Gender equality in Turkey

The European Stability Initiative (ESI) launched a report on gender equality in Turkey last week. The report, “Sex and power in Turkey” claims that gender equality in Turkey is largely a popular myth. The country scores poorly in global league tables on gender equality. At a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Istanbul in November 2006, a table measuring the “gender gap” put Turkey 105th of 115 countries. Turkey is further behind every European country especially in civil law and penal code, according to Gerald Knaus, president of ESI.According to the ESI report, the reforms of the last two years have been “the most radical changes in the legal status of Turkish women in 80 years.” For the first time in its history, Turkey has the legal framework of a post-patriarchal society and has granted women and men equal rights in marriage, divorce and property ownership. Knaus says that the changes in the last two years are spectacular and that they are mainly due to the active lobbying of women’s organizations. Should the trend continue, women will be a powerful force to reckon with. Quotas are currently being discussed as a means to further the inclusion of women in Turkish society.

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