The Past, Present and Future of Women in Turkey
Ela Köksal - 20/09/2023
In the early years of the Turkish Republic, Turkish women distinctly demonstrated their potential to be leading figures in society with their accepting attitudes towards the reforms and revolutions brought about by the modernization process, their openness to development, and their contributions to their communities. Thanks to Atatürk's educational and employment reforms, Turkish women gained the right to vote 36 years before Swiss women, 11 years before French women, and 14 years before Belgian women. In the early years of the Republic, Turkish women were ahead of their contemporaries in terms of basic rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, this momentum could not be sustained in the later years of the Republic.
Turkish women regularly face challenges concerning gender discrimination in the workplace, obtaining economic freedom and securing permanent employment. Here are some jarring statistics highlighting gender inequality in Turkey:
● According to a recent research conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Turkey ranks at the bottom among member countries in terms of women's participation in the labor force. While Iceland leads with 77%, the OECD average is around 59%, whereas in Turkey, this rate is only around 26-29%.
● According to data from the Istanbul Political Research Institute, 70% of women in Turkey have no income, and 20 million women are living without economic freedom.
● According to 2022 data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), despite women making up 49.9% of the population, the female ambassador rate is 27.2%, the female parliamentarian rate is 17.3%, and the number of female professors in higher education is 33.2%.
Nevertheless, evidence is showing that Turkey has the necessary infrastructure to close this gender gap in the coming century. A TÜİK analysis conducted in 2022 shows the rate of women who have completed at least one level of education has reached 87.3%. According to research conducted by the European Commission, this figure is on par with European Union countries. As per Eurostat data, the rate of women in executive positions in Turkey is 20.7%, which is very close to European countries like Cyprus (19%) and Luxembourg (21%). In addition to these statistics, the expansion of projects aimed at increasing women's access to education and the business world offers hope for achieving gender equality in Turkey.
The projects focused on gender equality by leading businesswomen like Ümit Boyner will be of great importance in harnessing the potential of women's power in the coming century. Ümit Boyner, in addition to her role as a Board Member of Boyner Group, is involved in women’s employment and education projects as part of organizations such as TÜSİAD and KAGİDER. One of Boyner Grup’s most striking projects are annual the 8th of March International Women's Day campaigns, which continue to emphasize that gender equality is not an option but a right.
In her speech titled "From the Republic's Woman to the Women of the Republic," Ümit Boyner will inform MARKA Conference attendees with an overview of Boyner Group's awareness campaigns on gender equality, emphasizing that the struggle for the basic rights and freedoms of women continues even on the 100th anniversary of the Republic.