Almost half of Turkey’s women are the victims of physical and sexual violence from their husbands, the United Nations Office in Turkey said Monday.
The U.N. released a statement on the occasion of March 8 International Women's Day and said 42 percent of women in Turkey face physical and sexual violence from their husbands.
"There are only 52 shelters for women despite 35 million of the population being women in the country," the statement said.
The statement said women were still facing serious problems in the labor force due to negative prejudices stemming from social and economic obstacles. At the same time, Turkish women have lower wages than men and are being employed in low-quality jobs without any insurance benefits.
According to the U.N.'s figures, the rate of men's participation in the labor force was 70.5 percent but the rate of women's participation in the labor force was only 26 percent in 2009. This figure was far below the global rate of 52.6 percent.
Around 70 percent of women living in rural areas work as “cost-free laborers” in family businesses while 59 percent of women employees do not have any social security according to figures of 2009.
The U.N. said the number of women deputies increased two-fold in 2007, reaching 9.1 percent. This figure, however, was much lower in local administrations.
Only 0.9 percent of Turkish mayors are women (27 of 2,948 mayors) while 3.2 percent of provincial assemblies are comprised of women (110 of 3,379 members). Women, meanwhile, constitute only 4.2 percent of municipal assemblies (1,340 of 31,790 members).
Turkey is ranked 101th among 109 countries according to the gender empowerment measure, or GEM. This means that Turkey is only ahead of Tonga, Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bangladesh and Yemen.
The U.N. also said illiteracy among women in Turkey is over 9 percent, adding that the most important obstacle before female education is a lack of classrooms.
In the statement, the U.N. said women should participate more in decision-making mechanisms, violence against women should be prevented and sexual-based negative clichés should be eliminated to ensure gender equality.
The statement said the U.N. appreciated and supported the steps being taken in Turkey to improve women's rights.
Monday, March 8, 2010
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
