WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

Website Link for UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights

46th Session, Including Documentation on Turkey Report Review:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/cescrs46.htm

http://rojwomen.com/2011/05/02/kurdish-women-answer-question-of-un-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-committee-on-opening-session/

Kurdish & Turkish Women's Rights

Kurdish Women Testify at Turkey Report Review by

UN Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee

May 2, 2011 by rojwomen.com

The opening session of the UN Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Committee reviewing Turkey, among other countries, has been a busy one for the Kurdish women delegation formed by Roj Women’s Association, Van Women’s Association and the Human Rights Association.

With the technical and financial assistance of the Programme on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Reyhan Yalcindag, Zozan Ozgokce and Virginia Lopez Calvo have lobbied on a one to one level and made two public statements during the opening session of the 46th session of the ESCR Committee. The first statement highlighted gender inequality in the enjoyment of the economic, social and cultural rights in Turkey, while the second statement emphasized the further discrimination endured by Kurdish women and women from minorities, due to geographical and ethnic factors, in addition to gender factors.

Some Committee members have taken an interest in the issue and asked questions and further clarification on, for example, how does the criminalization of human rights defenders working on the recognition of Kurds affect Kurdish women and women from South East Turkey rights. A rather disturbing question was also raised by one Committee member. He wondered whether the recommendations suggested by the Kurdish women delegation would be of any use considering what he called ‘cultural barriers’ to gender equality. It is indeed disappointing to hear from an UN expert a conservative comment that implies that gender inequality is an insurmountable problem that is part of a given culture, rather than a system of oppression (known as ‘patriarchy).

We were able to counteract this unfortunate question by bringing attention to examples of how cultural practices that render women vulnerable to violence have been drastically reduced in Turkey by means of legislation and policy implementation. For example, Zozan Ozgokce mentioned how religious marriages are less common due to a State policy whereby social security benefits are only available to couples whose marriages are registered in civil registries.

It was interesting to hear similar accounts of abuses of women’s economic, social, cultural rights from civil society representatives from other countries, such as Moldova. Moldovan feminists’ claims and demands are similar to those of Turkish and Kurdish feminists. While discrimination seems to take lesser dimensions (for example, women in Moldova get 76% of men’s wages for similar work, while in Turkey this figure goes down to 57%), other complaints, such as the widespread ineffectiveness of law enforcement officials in dealing with domestic violence victims or the inaction of the State on issues of reproductive and sexual rights (limited access to contraceptives and information on sexual and reproductive rights) were very similar.