UN women's rights committee reviews status of women in Turkey

Turkey's performance in implementing the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was reviewed by a United Nations committee on July 13, as a Turkish delegation provided official figures and answered the committee's questions on a wide range of women's issues in the country. 

In an opening address at the committee meeting, the Turkish delegation, which was comprised of representatives from Turkey's permanent representation in addition to the family, foreign affairs, interior, justice, labor, education, health and agriculture ministries, provided a brief account on recent developments on the status of women in Turkey. 

Women are now able to solely use their maiden name after they get married, said delegation head Gülser Ustaoğlu, who is also the general manager of the Family and Social Planning Ministry's status of women program, adding changes were being made to the Turkish Criminal Code to introduce penalties against discrimination and hate crimes. 

"Turkey has been one of the countries that supported 'gender equality' as a stand-alone goal," she stressed, although the term "gender justice" was being employed increasingly more commonly in the country.

She added that the budget of the Family and Social Planning Ministry had increased 15-fold and now included social services for women as part of its work. 

Reports suggested, however, that the CEDAW committee criticized changing the name of the Women and Family Affairs Ministry into its current title following the 2011 general elections and questioned the delegation on a number of thorny issues including child brides, femicides, girls' education, equal pay and abortions. 

Members of the committee also questioned women's...