UN committee to review Turkey's record on women's rights

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) will examine Turkey's record on women's rights today. The CEDAW regularly reviews Turkey and the way it implements the convention with Turkey's approval of its involvement.

The possible issues for discussion between the CEDAW and a delegation from the Turkish government include stereotypes of women, gender-based violence, honor killings, the underrepresentation of women, access to reproductive health services, the human rights of female activists, defenders and journalists, the rights of women in detention and the rights of asylum-seeking women as well as access to justice; especially regarding Kurdish and Syrian women and young girls.

The review, which will take place in Geneva, will be broadcast on the U.N.'s website from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Reports prepared by the General Directorate on the Status of Women (KSGM) in collaboration with the Turkish Family and Social Policies Ministry integrate contributions from relevant government agencies, academicians and non-governmental organizations who actively work in the field of women's rights and gender equality. The U.N. reports will highlight the achievements and improvements that have been made thus far and identify the areas which require further attention.

The most recent reports indicate that the amount of referral mechanisms put into place to protect women's rights in Turkey have increased while the country's legal framework has expanded to include gender equality and widespread policy reform. However, the 2015 and 2016 civil society organization reports by the Institutional Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the executive committee for the NGO Forum criticize Turkey regarding the issue, offering recommendations to improve the current statistics regarding women's rights in the country. The reports focus primarily on legal amendments, stereotypes and harmful practices, participation in political and public life and temporary special measures, employment, education, violence, women in rural areas, refugees, asylum procedure and internally displaced women.

A follow-up report which evaluates all information gathered from civil society organizations along with the discussions to be held during the review will be published on July 26 on the U.N. website.