Turkey examines gender equality in families

By Hatice Kesgin - Anadolu Agency

ANKARA 

May 15 is celebrated as ‘family day’ worldwide while Turkish families still face a "tendency towards autocracy” by men, according to Turkish family researchers.

In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared an annual International Day for Families on May 15 stressing the importance of having healthy and happy familial relationships.

Hidayet Sefkatli Tuksal from the Mardin Artuklu University Department of Anthropology said that women are capable of maintaining their family and supporting them financially, however, progress along gender equality lines remains slow.

“In modern times, women can earn money and support her family like her husband, however, men see it as ‘extra income’. So, we understand that men always come first and that is not equal,” she said.

Throughout Turkey, despite the many changes that have taken place over the last century, it is still common in families that offspring even into adulthood, stay at home until they marry and spend much time together. However, societal changes continue to shape the modern Turkish family - the age when adults get married has become older, the decline in fertility results in smaller family sizes, the increase in divorce sees the redefinition of family unit, the rise in equality of gender roles erodes the patriachial head and empowers women, and the independence of young people allows for more freedom and less dependence on the family unit.

The number of Turkish couples getting divorced rose to 125,305 in 2013, an increase of 1.6 percent from the previous year, a recent report by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed. The report also revealed that 40.3 percent of divorces occur in the first five years of marriage, while 21.5  percent occurred between six and 10 years. 

Turkey’s Antalya province has the highest divorce rate, at 2.7 percent last year, followed by Izmir with 2.68 percent and Mugla with 2.51 percent. The province with the lowest divorce rate was Hakkari in the east Anatolia region.

“In Turkey, family comes first and the family unit still remains intact. Turkish families are very tight knit. It is a good thing in lots of ways, but it can also cause problems. Traditionally, the wife's mother-in-law likes to participate in all the nuclear families' decisions, and this can often be deemed as unwelcome or interfering by the wife," Tuksal said.

Tuksal also explained the traditional view of the family in the past saying "In the past, the man was dominant and seen as the head of the Turkish family, while women were not able to express their opinion on domestic affairs or their childrens’ education or marriage, as it was the father who had the last word."  

The reforms introduced by the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Policies have had an impact on changing conventional family rules. However, they are not perfect in terms of equal roles for women in the family.

The ministry is undertaking research into child brides and launched a “No to Child Brides Platform” in February 2014. The “child bride” is a very serious problem in Turkey which the ministry is trying to tackle to ensure that female children are not forced into marriage upon puberty. 

Prof. Dr. Cigdem Kagitcibasi from Koc University said that most child brides exist in the southeast and in eastern Turkey because of financial difficulties.

“In eastern Turkey, Turkish people are generally involved in agriculture and they still use traditional agricultural methods requiring labor intensive manual work, therefore, rural families need young people to work on their land,” Kagitcibasi explained.   

The ministry also has launched a families, women, children and disabled call center (CALL 183) to alert authorities of acts of violence against women and children. "Our directors in charge contact the callers as soon as they are informed of a complaint. At times we act together with security forces and medical teams. It is an excellent system for emergency response. 

Psychiatrist Murat Dokur, the director of Family and Marriage Counselling Association - Turkey (AETD) spoke to Anadolu Agency reporter and stressed that the most significant problem for the Turkish family is the "tendency towards autocracy".

"The current most severe problem of the Turkish family is the 'tendency towards autocracy' and this situation can be resolved by bringing women into an equal footing with men," he said.

Dokur also added that "Turkish women should continue their education to fight for gender equality in the family. There are always male-dominant discourses in literature and it should be changed again through the writings of academicians and officials."

World Families Day

Each year, May 15th is celebrated as “the International Day of Families” all around the world.

In 1994, The United Nations General Assembly declared this day to support family bonds, to provide an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.

This year's theme for the family day is "Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals; International Year of the Family + 20." 

"Families are a vital foundation of any society—and the education field recognizes the importance of families as children's first teachers."

Women's roles have changed throughout the past decades with many Turkish women being motivated by the ideas of modernity and the desire to modernize their environment.  In the past, fewer women continued their education or could choose their own marriage partners - progress has been made,  with women as the pivotal force in the family but much has yet to be done.

englishnews@aa.com.tr