In her column, Gülseren Onanç shares the outputs of the collective discussion that took place among academics, activists, and civil society members in Turkey, on how to integrate women’s rights agenda in mainstream politics and support women in politics.
The world we dream of, the world which possesses gender equality, is in regression. With the effect of rising right-wing politics, we are moving away from equality in Turkey and the world. Male-dominated politics do not embrace the problems of feminist women and do not produce political discourses for them. Look at some of our losses under the AKP government in Turkey and you will understand the gravity of the situation:
Ministerial-level institutions established to protect women’s rights have become dysfunctional.
- Action plans to implement gender equality and adapt the necessary policies to public institutions, and public service were removed, and the monitoring mechanism became dysfunctional.
- The policy of preventing violence against women is being used as a tool for the security goals of the police and the religiosization agenda.
- The regression of women’s and girls’ rights to education, employment, access to justice, equal participation and equal representation in the public sphere is accelerating.
- Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, and still has problems in implementing CEDAW.
- Labour force participation decreased during and after the pandemic, and women’s poverty increased with the economic crisis.
- Moreover, closure cases are being filed against women’s organizations that defend women’s rights. Last week, there was the annulment lawsuit filed against the We Will Stop Femicide Platform. This was a step towards curbing the voice of civil society and women’s organizations in Turkey.
As they have done for years, women’s organizations are trying to raise women’s issues. Our Equality, Justice, Women Platform was established for this reason. During the pandemic, we established platforms, and created a wider network. We were able to reach women from all over Turkey. Since it is difficult to take part in male-dominated and pro-male media, we try to use social media effectively. In other words, as the women’s movement, we continue a brave and active struggle against authoritarian power.
Civil resistance fails
Unfortunately, this struggle is insufficient. Although we continue to struggle in the streets and we succeed in reaching the broader masses with social media campaigns, these efforts cannot create the necessary effect under the pressure of the dominant power.
The political opposition does not produce policy on women’s issues
The opposition parties, which we expect to take an active stance against this trend, cannot respond actively with their short-term election calculations and political alliances.
Parties do not prioritize and embrace women’s issues, and do not develop policies regarding women’s issues. The texts published by the opposition parties known as “the table of six1” did not include internalized phrases about women’s rights. Speaking of which, party representatives who say how important women are, do not develop policies that embrace women’s issues. The number of representatives fighting for women’s rights within the opposition parties is limited.
And yet, how will we women take part in the election process next year, in the process where we hope that the rebuilding of democracy will take place?
In this struggle we have been fighting for years, we have reached only 17 per cent in the rate of female parliamentarians.
What role will women play in Turkey’s democracy-building?
This week, we held a meeting with academics, activists, communicators and civil society representatives who have been struggling for years to adopt women’s policies in politics and working to support women in politics. We wanted to rethink how women should play a role in Turkey’s democracy building and develop strategies.
At the end of the meeting, which was very productive, we made a self-criticism about ourselves and developed plans for the future. The outputs of our meeting reveal an exciting new vision. I share with you some of our meeting resolutions:
- As women’s rights organizations, we will create a rigid pressure group to object to this trend, and to bring women’s rights defenders into politics and nominate women from all walks of life.
- We will demand a policy based on equal rights and freedoms, together with men who support equality.
- We want potential presidential candidates to voice and embrace our demands to protect women’s rights.
- Let’s not forget that 7 million young people who have no hope in the current political situation will vote in their first-ever election. They are young people that are seeking gender equality. We will try to include the politics of women’s rights in the proper context to incorporate these young people’s “new political expectations”.
- We will carry out studies that bring together those who support equality and women’s rights, including supportive male politicians who participate in political parties’ decision-making mechanisms.
We see the future of democracy not on the basis of “identity politics” but based on “equal rights, equal freedom”. We women will actively work for the adoption and implementation of our political discourse by opposition parties in the building of democracy in Turkey. We aim to walk on this path together with men who are in favour of equality.
1 The phrase refers to the opposition parties that conduct discussions under the main goal to bring back the parliamentary system in Turkey.