SES Equality and Solidarity Association reiterated its call to the opposition alliances to establish a Ministry of Women and Equality if they win the elections in order for Turkey to adopt and implement an effective gender equality policy. The association also launched a petition on change.org.
SES Equality and Solidarity Association reiterated its call to the opposition alliances to establish a Ministry of Women and Equality if they win the elections in order for Turkey to adopt and implement an effective gender equality policy. The association also launched a petition on change.org.
The Association made a detailed statement on why women demand a Ministry of Women and Equality and what kind of a structure the ministry should have:
Why a Ministry of Women and Equality?
The Ministry of Women and Equality is necessary for the executive body to adopt a systematic struggle against gender-based inequalities. One of the main obstacles to the social, political and economic development of our country in the 100th year of the Republic is the unacceptable weakness in gender equality. This weakness has been further reinforced by the setbacks experienced in recent years. The withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the increase in violence against women, the increase in women’s poverty, and intimidating lawsuits against representatives of the women’s movement or civil society organisations represent serious patterns of regression.
The Ministry of Women and Equality is an effective institutional solution for rapid progress in areas ranging from combating violence against women to increasing women’s participation in political and economic life. The Ministry of Women and Equality will turn women’s policies into a strong political goal, increase their impact on other policies and ensure their follow-up in practice.
What kind of structure should Ministry of Women and Equality have?
The Ministry of Women and Equality should be the main institutional unit shaping the government’s women and equality policy. Within this framework, it should both prepare the National Gender Equality Action Plan and ensure coordination and follow-up in its implementation.
An Inter-Ministerial Committee on Women’s Policies should be established under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Women and Equality, which includes the units/representatives of all ministries responsible for gender equality. In this way, an effective, functioning and co-operative structure can be established within the executive.
The Ministry of Women and Equality should monitor the implementation of National Women’s Policies through annual National Women’s Policy Monitoring Reports and share the data with the public.
The Ministry of Women should also establish a Coordination Committee with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior to combat violence against women. In this framework, the Ministry of Women should monitor and report on the implementation of anti-violence policies.
The Ministry of Women should hold regular consultation meetings with representatives of prominent civil society organisations in the field of women’s rights and gender equality. The knowledge, support and participation of civil society in the formulation, monitoring and improvement of the Ministry’s policies is essential.
A Women’s Policy Research Unit should be established within the Ministry of Women to analyse data, prepare reports and make recommendations for the future. This unit should also design the processes of supporting, conducting and co-operating with scientific research that will improve women’s policies.
Gülseren Onanç, founding president of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association, stated that it was once again disappointing that the parties nominated very few women as candidates for the upcoming elections and said, “It is a great deficiency that equal representation in the legislature cannot be ensured. We demand the establishment of a Ministry of Women and Equality in the new executive body. The Ministry of Women and Equality will turn women’s policies into a strong political goal, increase their impact on other policies and ensure their follow-up in practice. The Ministry of Women and Equality is also necessary for the implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy of the Council of Europe and the European Union, of which we are a member, as well as international conventions in this field, especially the UN.”
Petititon campaign started on Change.org
SES Equality and Solidarity Association also launched a petition on change.org for the establishment of a Ministry of Women and Equality.
Link for those who want to join the campaign: https://chng.it/BCnS2CCM