WUNRN
TURKEY - WOMEN'S ADVOCACY TO
DEFEND RIGHTS, MORE EQUALITY
By Jennifer
Hattam - WeNews Correspondent - July 17, 2012
Renewed debate over abortion, women's rights, in
Abortion
until the 10th week of pregnancy has been legal in
Under the
leadership of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, first elected to power
in 2002,
But many
activists believe the "Turkish model" is seriously flawed.
"The
approach of the government in recent years, especially after its [2010]
re-election, has created a battleground around equality. [The abortion issue]
is part of a larger backlash against women's rights," Liz Amado, president
of the Istanbul-based organization Women for
Women's Human Rights, told Women's eNews.
"The
[Turkish] government has never been a big supporter [of women's rights], but I
don't think we've previously faced such blatant attacks as we have
recently," she added.
Counter Efforts
Though the
Turkish government says it's committed to closing the gender gap and fighting
violence against women, its recent proposals to further restrict
reproductive rights by making abortion illegal after four weeks of
pregnancy–before many women even know they're pregnant–appear to run counter to
such statements.
"As
women have more children, they are less likely to finish their education and
work outside the home. This lack of alternatives increases their vulnerability
to abuse," said Jenny White, an
anthropology professor at
In a
recent blog post on the topic,
White also noted the risk an unwanted pregnancy can create in "a place
like Turkey, where even gossip about a girl or woman can lead the community to
drive her out, or [lead to] her murder by relatives who feel their 'honor' has
been impugned."
Following public outcry and criticism from both
domestic and international media, the Turkish government seems to have gone
silent on the abortion issue, though its promised changes to the law have not
been officially scrapped. But the recent debate appears to be only the latest
indicator of an increasingly hostile climate for women.
Amado
pointed to Erdogan's repeated calls for Turkish women to have at least three
children, as well as his statement in 2010 that "men
and women are not equal" as signs of the times. The name change in
2011 of the Ministry for Women and Family to the Ministry
of Family and Social Policies also prompted concerns.
"What we're seeing here is a very patriarchal, conservative approach to women that is refusing to acknowledge their rights as individuals and instead emphasizing their familial roles while trying to control their sexuality," Amado said.
Global Setbacks
The
renewed debate over abortion in
Though
Erdogan is a devout Muslim, it is far from clear that he and his allies are
driven by religious motivations on this issue.
The
majority of the Turkish population supports abortion's availability, even among
women in Erdogan's political camp, White said, noting that "the rationale
given is not religious. It has nothing to do with the status of the fetus as a
'person' with a soul."
Instead,
Erdogan suggested that family planning threatens the country's growth and
strength. (Just 10 percent of pregnancies in Turkey were terminated in 2008,
down from 18 percent in 1993, according to a study by Hacettepe University in
Ankara.)
Neither is
cultural pressure on women something new in
The prime minister's
moves regarding women also fit in with what critics call an increasingly
authoritarian streak that is threatening freedom of expression and other social
rights in Turkey, a trend that has been criticized by Amnesty
International, the European
Court of Human Rights and Reporters
Without Borders, among others.
"Rather
than setting a positive, progressive and forward-looking example that others in
the region can look up to in terms of democracy and human rights, what's
happening here on many levels is just the opposite," Amado said.