WOMEN as DECISION MAKERS

Dr. Arzu ÖZYOL

In the 20th century, one of the greatest changes to democracy around the World was the inclusion of increasing numbers of women, both as voters and as members of parliament.

More women in powerful positions means more effective solutions for the problems and needs of female citizens.

Turkish women, who obtained the right to vote and to be elected in local elections in 1930 and in parliamentary elections in 1934, have reached a high participation rate.

Constitution of TRArticles 67,68,70

• To vote and to be elected• To form political parties • To join and withdraw from political parties

in accordance with the established procedure,

• To take part in referendums,• To enter public service,  

Article 83 of the Political Parties Law, No. 2820

“Political parties shall not pursue any aim in contradiction with the principle that everyone is equal without any discrimination before law, irrespective of language, race, colour, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or any such considerations.”

REASONS of INEQUALITY in TURKISH PARLIAMENT

• Customs coming from old patriarchal structure of our community,

• Leader-dominated structure of political parties,

• Candidacy process,

• Functioning and organisation of political life,

In 2014 (%14.2), the rate of women participation in Turkish Parliament has increased 56% in accordance with the same rate which was taken in the election of 2007(%8,72).

%14,2 78 of 550 parliamentarian are women

Women’s in leadership positions in business, Turkey is ranked internationally 57 out of 115.

EUROPEAN UNION

• In the European Parliament, three in ten members are women (2009-2014).

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe, an average of 18 per cent of members of parliament are women while the 28 members of the EU are at the top with an average of 26 per cent.

Four countries lead globally with more than 50 per cent women ministers (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden), 10 countries have fewer than 10 per cent.

One in six women members on boards and 5% of board chairpersons (in Europe's largest publicly quoted companies)

50/50 Declaration

• In 2012, more than 50 Members of the European Parliament from five political groups and different European countries signed the 50/50 Declaration to call Member States in order to take action for achieving gender balance in European decision making.

Political parties to nominate one female and one male candidate in their electoral lists and ensure gender parity in the nomination of chairpersons within Committees and their decision-making bodies.

Declaration also recommends to ensure gender parity in the executive boards and top positions of the financial bodies and corporations.  

Vienna Conference on Human Rights, International Conference on Population and Development 4th World Conference on Women,

MDG Goal 3 which is to promote gender equality and empower women demands an increase in their representation in parliaments.

Major Action Areas

• Action Area 1: Strengthen gender equality legislation, policy and strategies.

• AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Affirmative action is a topical issue around the world because of concerns about the distribution of the gains of development and in response to demands by activists for measures to deal with persistent inequalities.

Affirmative action for women has been enshrined in various documents of the United Nations, key among them are the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

In Article 4 paragraph 1, the Convention provides that, “adoption by state parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women.

Effective Temporary Strategies

• Recruiting, financially assisting and training women candidates,

• Amending electoral procedures, developing campaigns directed at equal participation,

• Setting numerica goals and quotas,

• Targeting women for appointment to public positions such as the judiciary or other professional

There is a consensus within the UN System that a target of 30% in all decision making bodies is necessary to ensure a critical mass which can make a difference (The UN ECOSOC has agreed to this target which has also become part of the Beijing Platform for Action)

Action Area 2: Mainstream gender equality throughout all parliamentary work

Gender Mainstreaming

GENDER MAINSTREAMING

• Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing and taking into account the implications for women and men of any planned action- including legislation, policies and programmes-at all levels and in all spheres.

Action Area 3: Improve gender-sensitive infrastructure and parliamentary cultureParliaments are alike any other workplace, and as such, should serve a model for society by upholding the principles of gender sensitivity through the provision of family-friendly policies and infrastructure.

Action Area 4: Ensure that responsibility for gender equality is shared by all parliamentarians-men and womenChanging social values and heightening gender awareness among men have resulted in strong partnerships between men and women on gender equality.

Action Area 5: Enhance the gender sensitivity of, and gender equality among, parliamentary staff Providing gender awareness training seminars for parlimentary staff is very important besides assessing the number and seniority of women in the parliamentary administration in order to enable them for supporting parliament in achieving its gender equality goals.

Action Area 6: Encourage political parties to be champions of gender equality.Parliaments should encourage political parties to adopt some gender-sensitive measures.

Action Area 7: Increase the number of women in parliament and achieve equality in participationEquality of participation can be both a catalyst for implementing gender-sensitive changes and an important outcome of successful gender-sensitive changes.

We-as BPW International-should take action for promoting gender equality in parliamentary institutions at all levels and pushing them in order to design a process suited to their national situations.