END THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis stated that legal arrangements were necessary but not sufficient to protect women from violence, and the real change should have been in the minds. Bagis called the society to stand in solidarity and fight against all kinds of violence and discrimination against women.

In his written declaration, Minister Bagis, reminding that it was the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, stated that according to the statistics of the UN, globally, six out of every ten women experienced physical, physiological or sexual violence in their life time. Bagis indicated that it was a major embarrassment that the extent of violence against women in the 21st Century necessitated to commemorate such a day.

Stating that even in the European Union where the highest standards of living were experienced and human beings were valued more, women could frequently be subject to such attitudes and that situation displayed the severity of the problem, Bagis indicated that there were still steps to be taken in order to strengthen the position of women in the society in the 21st Century Turkey also. Bagis continued as follows:

"Great leader Ataturk took radical steps towards ending the discrimination against women which had been continued for centuries and ensuring women take part in political and social life. With the adoption of the Civil Law the equality of men and women had a legal basis and Turkish women acquired the right to vote and be elected even before those of the countries having long established democracies such as France, Italy and Switzerland.

One of the major political aims of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the architect of the parliament which includes the second most number of women MPs after the first parliament founded by great Ataturk, is to improve the social status of women, remove the discrimination of women in social and economical life and bring violence against women to an end. In the period of our government, we indeed make important efforts in order to ensure our women reach the required status and to prevent violence against women."

Indicating that an important progress has been made through legal arrangements aiming to prevent honour killings which were the most visible and ugly face of violence against women in Turkey and to protect women who were victims of violence, Minister Bagis stated that taking positive discrimination towards women under a constitutional guarantee with the 12 September referendum and establishing the Parliamentary Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men" the previous year were the most important steps taken in that direction.

Source:AA