Turkey must do far more to ensure the improvement of women’s rights in the country, including addressing discrimination in its laws and in the Constitution, a United Nations committee said Wednesday.
Meeting with Turkish government representatives and activists in New York, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, said the country needs to address “discrimination in laws and the Constitution, violence against women, quotas for women in elections, female employment and education in mother tongues.”
Unemployment has become a significant problem in Turkey, affecting women more negatively than men, Turkish State Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf, who is responsible for women’s and family issues, admitted at the meeting. She added that unregistered employment among women was high in the country.
“[Still,] despite these problems, the rate of women’s workforce participation has increased from 23.3 percent in 2005 to 26 percent in 2009,” said Kavaf, who attended the meeting to deliver the government’s report on women’s issues. A nationwide group composed of more than 20 women’s organizations operating under the umbrella of CEDAW had submitted a deeply critical “shadow report” Wednesday.
CEDAW urged the government delegation to produce a clear definition of gender discrimination in the Constitution, in line with the United Nations, Turkish activists said in a written statement Friday. The committee also suggested that Turkey enact legal amendments banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Criticizing a law that does not require the equal distribution of assets for divorced couples that married before 2002, CEDAW recommended that Turkey create a new law to retroactively ensure all divorced spouses receive an equal share of the couple’s possessions.
In addition, Turkey should enact a legal change allowing Turkish women to keep their maiden names after marriage, the committee said.
CEDAW also recommended that Turkey provide more information on the rights of women with disabilities and education for women in native languages other than Turkish, adding that with women making up only 9 percent of parliamentary deputies, measures to encourage political participation must be introduced in time for the 2011 general elections.
The constitutional reform package set for a referendum Sept. 12 would grant women increased rights, State Minister Kavaf said during the meeting.
