The biannual Women and Justice Summit, jointly organized by the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) and the Ministry of Family and Social Services, begins on Friday in Istanbul, with the participation of speakers from around the world. The two-day event at Atatürk Cultural Center delves into the “norms” women are forced to be confined into. Held under the theme of Cultural Codes and Women, the event is the latest edition of the summit which concentrates on women’s rights and the problems they face in daily life.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık and KADEM chair Saliha Okur Gümrükçüoğlu are keynote speakers of the event. The summit brings together ministers, academics, researchers, journalists, businesspeople and representatives of various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). On the first day, a ministerial-level meeting will be held, with the participation of guests from Libya, Palestine, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Germany, Hungary and Singapore, under the title of “Towards More Inclusive Societies: Women as Agents of Change.” On the second day, panels will be held.
The first panel, entitled “Women as Subject” focuses on discussions on a fair social structure and empowerment of women as the subject of civic society, as well as challenges women’s movements may face in the future, along with questions on the potential of the women’s movement to reshape civic society as a movement questioning male-dominated public space. Associate professor Merve Safa Kavakçı from Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry, Afghan peace negotiator and women’s rights activist Fatima Gailani, Tesni Khriji Chirchi, an academic from Ibn Haldun University who also serves as executive director of Jasmine Foundation for Research and Communication and Sharifa Noaman al-Emadi from Qatar, executive director of Doha International Family Institute will speak at the panel.
The second panel, entitled "Public Space and Working Life" tackles the questions including norms defining women’s position in working life and how fragile women’s situation in working life is and ways to increase the quality and quantity of workforce opportunities for women, as well as their empowerment in accessing economic power. The panel will also discuss maintaining a balance between working and family life for women. Hayat Sindi, a biotechnologist from Saudi Arabia, will join LedBy Foundation founder Ruha Shadab, Yasemin Gür Solmaz, a member of the executive board of Türkiye’s Gürmen Group and Marlyse R. Ndjenga from Cameroon, a publishing director of Valeurs Ajoutees magazine, at the panel. In the "Public Spaces and Market Rules" panel, participants will discuss how daily life and public space establish womanhood norms while creating social reality and challenges women face in public space and working life, as well as their response to those challenges, in addition to a discussion on mechanisms required to protect and endorse women in working life. King’s Counsel Sultana Tafadar from the United Kingdom, World Hijab Day CEO Nazma Khan from the United States, chef and social entrepreneur Ebru Baybara Demir from Türkiye and award-winning American journalist Rowaida Abdelaziz will attend the panel.
The “New Lifestyle and the Construction of Culture” panel on Saturday will discuss the impact of new lifestyles on existing norms and how new lifestyles impose their legitimacy and whether this transformation is an opportunity or obstacle for women. The panel will also tackle the womanhood experiences in different cultures and how to build women-friendly media. Among the panel's participants are Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a former basketball player from the U.S. turned motivational speaker who was prohibited from attending international matches because of her headscarf, Rizwana Hamid, a filmmaker and journalist from the U.K., Syrian filmmaker and activist Waad al-Kateab and Australian actor Reshad Strik.
The “Pictures of Womanhood” panel will delve into how women are associated with art and how visual and audio art forms build images and norms on womanhood and transform them, as well as how art criticism can intersect with women’s activism. Ayşe Taşkent from Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, historian, author and presidential adviser Hümeyra Şahin Oktay, filmmaker and producer Samah Safi Bayazid and designer and podcaster Ayşe Akova will speak at the panel.
