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State Policy in the 1980s and the Future of Women's Rights in Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Günseli Berik
Günseli Berik*
Affiliation:
The Graduate Faculty, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics
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Extract

The 1980s witnessed the rise of feminist and Islamic fundamentalist movements in Turkey. In diametrically opposed ways, both movements pushed the debate over women's issues and rights in Turkey into the spotlight of public discussion. The feminist movement made visible, and condemned, acts of physical violence against women, problematized women's lack of substantive rights, and the articles of the Criminal Code that discriminate against women. For the Islamic fundamentalists, on the other hand, women's right to wear headscarves in educational institutions and government offices was a focal and continuous rallying point throughout the 1980s. Less prominent have been campaigns by Islamic groups to segregate men and women in public life, by calling for separate buses, hospitals for men and women. While the feminist movement remained an informally organized, non-parliamentary opposition group, Islamists gained ground within state institutions by virtue of being a vocal constituency of the conservative ruling party in power since 1983. Apparently in response to the heightened debate concerning women's status, in the latter half of the 1980s and especially in the past year the government put legal measures into effect, creating legal obligations at the international level and institutional structures at the governmental level to address issues concerning women.

Type
Review Article
Information
New Perspectives on Turkey , Volume 4 , Fall 1990 , pp. 81 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 1990

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