A Gendered Perspective on Social Policies in Turkey: What Do Women Think?

Women's equal participation in all aspects of social, political and economic life is an essential requirement for sustainable development and democratic governance. How to engage women in these different spheres of policy increase their access to information and ensure their participation in policy debates are therefore among the key questions policymakers and scholars are actively seeking to answer. This study aims to contribute to this growing scholarship by examining Turkish women's views on gender equality at large, and current social policies targeting women in particular. The study examines a sample of 1218 women's views from a central province, Çankaya, in the capital city of Ankara. Of those in the sample, 41% work full time outside the home. Of the remaining group, 24% cites childcare, 19.5% cites spousal objections, and 15.5% cites housekeeping for reasons that keep them from seeking and keeping full time jobs. Among one of its interesting findings, the study shows a significant lack of women's civic engagement and/or interest in volunteer activities in organizations that take on gendered issues. A miserly 3.2% of the women interviewed report having participated in any civil society organizations that work on women's issues. A further statistical analysis of participating women's views highlight a clear age and education divide among the women, which in turn shapes whether they perceive the current social policy changes positively. Of those recent policy changes, the well-recognized one concerns equality after divorce. 90.3% of the women interviewed recalled the recent policy change giving women the equal rights over assets accumulated during marriage. When asked, majority of women noted domestic violence and lack of employment opportunities respectively as top two concerns Turkish women face at the moment.