“Prof. Ayşe Ayata evaluates the poll results”

INTRODUCTION

In this report, we present the evaluation of the results of the survey to serve as the basis for the project aiming at improving women’s human rights.  As you may be aware, our team did not participate in the formation of the questions and the sampling, implementation of the survey and the basic computer analysis of the collected data.  Our assessment has been based on the questionnaire formed and implemented by UN and ANAR. 

he Survey Report consists of three basic sections.  The first section includes the evaluation by separate provinces.  The second one accommodates the comparative results and basic assessments.  The third section presents the recommendations for implementation, derived from the results of the survey.

The second and the third sections of this report are deemed to complement the report for each province.  The stakeholders in any province shall analyze their own province comparatively and be advised of the common recommendations upon reading the report for their province.  Hence, although separate reports are drafted for the provinces, the second and third sections aim at presenting the overall picture for the project.

In drafting the reports, contents have been associated as much as possible with the major motives of the project, focusing on being target-oriented, as well as being comprehensive.

Comparative Results for the Provinces

In this section, results obtained from the provinces are compared, taking into consideration also the overall results of the project.

Human Rights of Women

In Turkey, women’s human rights are safeguarded by the constitution and the legislation.  Considering all provinces at large, those who are aware of the laws stating that women and men are equal citizens represent a ratio over 80%.  On the other hand, the provinces can be divided into two main groups in terms of women who stated that they were not aware of such laws.  The first group includes Şanlıurfa (16.2%), Van (14%) and Kars (13.2%) and the second group includes İzmir (5%), Trabzon (6.3%) and Nevşehir (7.8%).  The difference between the two groups of provinces arises also in legal terms such as equal rights of inheritance or equal wages.

In all the provinces except for Şanlıurfa, 90% of women state that there is a women’s rights problem in Turkey and, again at a high percentage level, they demand that the required policies are developed to solve this problem and ensure equality of women and men.  Women in Şanlıurfa fall behind in demanding equality and elimination of their problems, compared to other provinces.  At this point, it would be required to note that 38.4% of the women in the Şanlıurfa sampling were illiterate.

Looking at the survey data for the provinces in the first group, we see that Şanlıurfa, Van and Kars have the lowest ratios in terms of literacy level and elementary school education.  It becomes evident that both the language barrier and illiteracy and low educational level pose serious problems for women in becoming aware of their rights.  We would like to draw your attention at this point to a fact that is true for women and, at a greater percentage, true for men, as well.  A generally valid tendency is that such values become less equal when families and personal life are approached.  In other words, even if values concerning the equality of women and men are accepted as public realities, the situation changes when people’s own families are concerned -- in which case such values are transformed into traditional judgments and values.





Violence and Protection from Violence

In this section, violence will be analyzed under two headings – honor killings, which is widespread in our country, even if as a regionally arising problem for the most part, and violence in daily life and in the family.

All women except for the Şanlıurfa sampling identify violence other than honor killings as crime against humanity at ratios exceeding 90%, whereas in Şanlıurfa, only 61% of men and 73% of women agreed with this evaluation.  The correlation between the prevalence of honor killings in the area and the low ratio of agreement is remarkable.  Which is much more striking is that 26.8% of women and 30.5% of men in Şanlıurfa approve of punishment deriving from accepted practice.  In Van, the level of such approval reaches 13.5% for women and 23.1% for men, although not as high as in Şanlıurfa.





On the other hand, 41.3% of men and 32.5% of women in Şanlıurfa abstain from expressing an opinion in this respect (in Van, these ratios are 22.4% and 16%, respectively).  Although this segment of people state that they are aware of honor killings being crimes, when a person from their own families act in breach of a traditional practice, they remain silent and can not provide a clear reply when asked how these people should be punished.  As a result of the survey, it became evident that a very large segment in our country places great importance to the concept of family honor.  Nevertheless, in the other provinces, and especially among women, helping the victim is quite common.  Correspondingly, the tendency to choose not to punish although severing his relations with the victim is picking up strength.

Secondly, we should stress that violence is quite common within the family and in the daily life.  The kind of behavior considered as violence differs to a great extent among the provinces, while the differences between the opinions of women and men from the same province tend to remain at relatively negligible levels.  We can say that the province with the lowest level of perception concerning violence is Şanlıurfa, parallel to the attitudes in this province towards honor killings.  This shows us that behavior perceived as pressure or violence in the other provinces, such as insult or restraining to work, is perceived as a common practice in Şanlıurfa. 

Nearly one fifth of women stated that they were subject to violence.  60% of the women who were subject to violence in İzmir and 85% in Şanlıurfa stated that the perpetrator of violence was their husbands.  While the general tendency among women is not legitimizing violence against women, those who reject violence under all circumstances vary according to provinces, with Şanlıurfa with the lowest ratio (32.7%) and Kars, the highest (81.7%).  The importance of establishing shelters for women is underlined once again, taking into consideration the prevalence of both notions of violence together.  As a matter of fact, four fifth of women (with Şanlıurfa being the highest with 95%) deem opening of shelters imperative and vital.  Although the family protection law throws the perpetrator of violence out of the house, this measure falls short in terms of preventing honor killings.  That is, once the family takes the decision, if the victim is not protected, another family member takes on the act of execution.   Legal measures fall short in precluding the problems women are faced with also in other aspects.  First of all, if a woman does not have an income, she is faced with a serious living problem once the husband is expelled from the house.  To the contrary, in a province such as Şanlıurfa, the number of large families is quite high, in which case the woman is punished by the husband’s family.

Improvement of Local Administrations and Services

The level of awareness of women of the services offered for women by local administrations is very low. 



Nevşehir has the highest ratio with 23.5%.  In the second group, there is İzmir with 18.8% and Şanlıurfa with 18%.  In the other three provinces, the ratio of women who are aware of such services is 10% or below.  The most widely known of the services offered is vocational courses (Şanlıurfa 58.6%, Nevşehir 71.2%).  In the provinces with high illiterate population, the demand for vocational courses is followed by the demand for literacy courses.  On the other hand, in İzmir where such services are quite developed and diversified, the kinds of services offered are known quite well.

Women usually do not make direct requests to municipalities.  The highest ratio of direct requests is seen in İzmir with 18.8%, followed by the women of Şanlıurfa with (13.8%).  The women of Nevşehir have the lowest ratio (5.4%) in this respect.  The level of direct requests depend upon a variety of factors including the educational level, family structure, real estate ownership and the tradition of seeking remedy.

Only a minority of women falling in the range of between one fourth and one fifth are of the opinion that the municipalities offer an adequate level of services for women.  Opinions of women in this respect are relatively more positive in İzmir, Şanlıurfa and Kars.  The number of women who complain from the inadequacy of the municipal services is as high as the demands from municipalities and other public authorities.  Several services are demanded including literacy courses, nurseries for children, street markets, sports facilities, female doctors and rest homes for the elderly.  Furthermore, women articulate their demands in a very determined manner and follow them up quite effectively.  Women and men are of the opinion that women should definitely take part in municipal administrations at a ratio exceeding 85% in Nevşehir, Van, Kars and Trabzon.  This ratio is lower in İzmir (70.5%) and Şanlıurfa (52.6%).  In İzmir, women are open to public life and thereby they are probably used to working in male-dominant fields.  In Şanlıurfa, on the other hand, they are confined to their houses and far away from public life and thereby probably not interested in the municipality anyway.

Women managers and employees working at municipalities are very influential in terms of ensuring efficient public utilities and services such as water, gas, transportation, garbage collection and street cleaning, which are directly related to daily life.  Women want to have more authority in this area, as these services are related to areas women are familiar with and experienced in.  Women managers and employees working in these fields would increase women’s demand for service in these fields and facilitate their benefiting from and participation in the offering of such services.



An interesting finding is that over two thirds of the women voters in Nevşehir, Van, Trabzon and Kars, and approximately half in İzmir and Şanlıurfa, stated that they would vote for a municipal administration which is sensitive to women’s wants and needs, even if it is not from the political party they supported.  Men stated that they were also more or less of the same opinion.  Consequently, it may be emphasized that placing importance upon addressing women’s wants and needs in local services would generate a significant potential of votes for local administrators.

Participation in Decision Making Processes

This survey, just like several others, reveals very high voting rates for women.  In İzmir, which is one of the most developed provinces of Turkey, women who stated that they cast their votes represented 80%.  A segment ranging between two thirds and three fourths stated that they would vote for women candidates in the elections, even if women represented a higher ratio in this segment.





Obviously, these facts are among the most important indicators of women’s wishes for participating in decision making processes.  As a matter of fact, a segment of women ranging between one thirds and one fifth stated that they would like to enter politics.  Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the ratio of women who stated that they did not like politics is higher than those who stated that they would like to enter this field.  In Van, Şanlıurfa, Nevşehir and Trabzon, the ratios double the ones for Kars and İzmir.  Contrary to the general acquiescence, the ratio of women who cited restriction by their husbands or family responsibilities as the reasons for not entering politics is quite low in all of the provinces.   It turns out that the most significant reason for staying away from politics is lack of an adequate level of education.

Obstacles encountered upon increasing participation levels of women in politics are perceived in different ways.  First of all, gender differences are as important as the differences between provinces.  While in the provinces such as Van and İzmir the factor of male dominance is cited with honesty, in others, lack of interest (Trabzon), passivity (Van) and uneducatedness (Şanlıurfa) of women are put forward.  Self-accusing attitudes of women are also very remarkable.   In many provinces, women specifically state that they are uneducated (İzmir, Van), uninterested (Trabzon) and passive (Kars) in the area of politics.  Within this framework, the importance of motivating women for education and participation in politics come to the foreground.

Another way of participation would be participation in the activities of non-governmental organizations, thereby taking part in decision making processes.  In this sense, the provinces are divided into two.  In Şanlıurfa and Kars, survey participants informed of associations, foundations or similar organizations engaged in women’s issues represent 7% and 9.6%, respectively.  This ratio is higher in Trabzon (20.2%) and İzmir (27.6%).  On the other hand, two thirds of those who are informed of the existence of such organizations do not have detailed information concerning the activities of any organization or can not cite any names of such organizations.

The recognition level of non-governmental organizations is quite low even in İzmir, which is a socio-economically developed province.  Whereas, facilitation of women’s entrance in politics and taking part in the decision making processes depend largely upon spreading of such organizations and increasing of their activities.

Employment and Working Life

We know that participation of urban women in the workforce is quite low in Turkey.  According to the survey findings, the ratio of women who work at a paid job ranges between 17.3% in Şanlıurfa and 24.5% in İzmir.  Other surveys held in Turkey reveal that female university graduates have a much higher participation rate in the labor market.  Consequently, the ratio of university graduates in the sampling turns out low in Şanlıurfa (6.7%) and high in İzmir (22.5%).

The reasons for women and men for not working are distinctly different from one another.  Similarly, the differences between the provinces are remarkable, as well.  32.1% of the women in Şanlıurfa and 39.2% in Nevşehir stated that they did not work because their husbands did not let them to.  The ratio of women who cited family or husband related reasons for not working in these two provinces were 73.6% and 57.1%, respectively.  The second group includes Trabzon and Van.  The ratio of women who did not work due to restriction by their husbands is 18.6% and, in Van, 12.9%.  However, restriction by the family reaches 41.5% in Trabzon and 38.8% in Van.  In the third group, we can look at İzmir and Kars.  In these provinces, the major reason for not working is failure to find a job.  24.9% of the women in İzmir and 45.7% in Kars cite this reason for not working.  Again in these two provinces, restriction by the family is quite low (27.9% in İzmir and 20.4% in Kars).  The major factor that Kars differs from Van and Şanlıurfa is that although the ratio of university graduates is 8%, secondary education graduates is much higher than in the other three provinces.  This shows us that, depending on the local circumstances, graduation even from secondary education may be effective in taking part in the labor market. 

As stated previously, vocational training facilitates participation in the labor market to a considerable extent.  We may group the provinces within the scope of the sampling in two, in terms of vocational training perspectives.  The first group comprises the provinces where those who do not want vocational training are in majority, which are Şanlıurfa (62%), Nevşehir (58.8%) and Van (55%).  The other group includes the provinces where those who want vocational training are in majority, which are İzmir (51.7%), Kars (53.9%) and Trabzon (55.2%).  At this point, we may note that there is a significant improvement in the secondary education level in Trabzon, which influence women’s tendency to receive vocational training and take more part in the economic life.  This distinction is reflected upon the content of education, as well.  While the women in İzmir want to receive vocational training in technological fields, such as computer training, at a ratio of 30%; the ratio decreases by one fifth in Trabzon and Kars.  In the other provinces, the priority is placed upon tailoring, and computer courses remain at marginal levels.

Working women stated that they were not subject to a significant level of gender discrimination.  The highest level of complaints in this respect is observed in İzmir (20.5%) and the lowest in Kars (7%).  However, it should be stated that such discrimination is sometimes positive.  The number of those who complained from sexual discrimination within the sampling is very low.  However, in answering another question, higher number of women stated that there were sexual discrimination incidents at their work places and therefore they did not want to work.  Resolving this prejudice will certainly facilitate the transition of women to working life.

In this context, we may refer to a stereotype.  In the provinces within the scope of the survey, two thirds of women and men stated that working women are not welcome in their society.  We observed that men are more conservative than women in this respect in the provinces other than İzmir.  Despite such manifestations, approximately 20-25% of women work, and which is much more important, they want to work and take part in the labor market at increasing levels.  The purpose of working is contributing to the family budget and sharing the burden of life with the other members of the family, as well as manifesting oneself as an individual.  Development in this direction will bring about a change both in the roles of women and men and in the division of forces.  However, the division of labor in a traditional family entails the woman working in the house and the man working outside to earn a living for his wife and children. 





Şanlıurfa scores highest amongst the provinces with 55.7% of women and %91.6 of men, in supporting the statement that women’s place is home.  The second inline are of the provinces of Nevşehir and Van.  In these provinces, men mostly support the opinion that they themselves should be the main bread winners for the family, while half of the women are in the opinion that men and women should share this responsibility.  In Trabzon and Kars, while men feel like those in Nevşehir and Van, two thirds of women are in favor of sharing the responsibility equally between the spouses.  In İzmir, on the other hand, responces of women and men are very much alike.



In all the provinces, parallel to the low level of women participating in labour force, majority of men stated that they were the main breadwinners. Majority of the working women, on the other hand, have claimed to control over their own income.  Only in Şanlıurfa, 26.9% of women stated that their husbands control their income.  This finding may be interpreted as an indication of strongly patriarchal relations within families.  In the other provinces though, this ratio is as low as negligible.

Family and Familial Relations

One of the most important means to improve the quality of living is family solidarity and ensuring harmony and trust within the family.  In this context, the size and the composition of the family become significant.

Although there may be differences between the provinces, majority of male survey participants are of the opinion that children assure the continuation of marriages. 

There are significant differences between the provinces in terms of the number of children and the desired number of children.  In Şanlıurfa, 26% of women have three or four children, while those with over four children are 41.2%.  These ratios are 31.6% and 5.3% in Nevşehir, 28.3% and 19.2% in Van, 27.1% and 4.9% in Trabzon, 27.2% and 12.3% in Kars and 12% and 0.9% in İzmir, respectively.  As observed, there are significant differences between the eastern and western provinces.  The reports of the provinces reveal that the most important factor determining the number of children is the educational level of women. 

On the other hand, while the desired number of children by women in the other provinces within the scope of the survey is limited to two, one third of men and women in Şanlıurfa want more than four children.  This tendency will surely generate significant demographic results for the future.

The survey results indicate that financial problems are the most important reason for not sending girls to school.  While the ratio of families who don’t send their daughters to school remains at five or six per cent in all the provinces, it reaches 15.6% in Şanlıurfa.  A much more striking fact is that while poverty was cited as the reason for not sending girls to school in all the other provinces, in Şanlıurfa amongst men there is a tendency that they were against schooling of girls.  The ratio of families not sending their daughters to school is also relatively high in İzmir (6.8%), this may be due to factors such as migration and urban poverty.

The number of children has a great influence on the living standards of families.  For example, the province with the highest ratio of survey participants who stated that they did not receive healthcare services was Şanlurfa (62.6%).  On the contrary, in Nevşehir, the ratio of women who stated that they did not benefit from healthcare services drops down to as low as 28.5%.

In all the provinces, over 70% of female survey participants stated that they received information and assistance on family planning from healthcare institutions and personnel.  The second venue for receiving such information is the media.  In Şanlıurfa and in Van, the spouse and the family are indicated as the source for receiving such information.  If we recall that in these provinces men and women desired more children compared to others, it becomes evident that the desired number of children and receiving information from the family circles on family planning are directly correlated.

While the ratio of women who are of the opinion that “a woman’s place is her house” is around 40% in Van and Nevşehir, the ratio drops down to one third in Trabzon, İzmir and Kars.  In all the provinces except İzmir, men are of the same opinion with women at ratios exceeding sixty per cent.  In İzmir and Şanlıurfa, men and women seem to be alike on this attitude.  However, while very high percentages of men in İzmir support women to open up to the outside world and work outside the house; in Şanlıurfa, even women themselves support idea that women should stay at home.

The survey also dwelled upon certain prejudices and widespread thinking patterns in the society.  For example, there is a significant tendency to tolerate a man cheating on his wife.  The ratio of those who are of this opinion exceed one third of the female survey participants in Kars and Şanlıurfa.  Such tolerance reaches the two thirds level among men in Kars.  As stated previously, in Şanlıurfa, approval of honor killings, in other words, murdering of women is accepted and tolerated by a noteworthy segment of people.  Even women, and sometimes more than men, are of the opinion that this behavior is acceptable.

In Turkey, the divorce level is quite low.  An important reason for this is the strong family solidarity in our country.  On the other hand we know that, a very high number of women continue to live together with their husbands, keeping their problems within the family, even if they are unhappy.  We can easily say that such women endure hard conditions because they know that they would be faced with a very difficult life after divorce, especially as they may have hard time to earn their lives.  In general, women refer to family problems more than men.  This concern lead women to accept the difficulties of the family life -- even domestic violence -- and continue their marriages.  Hence, in all the provinces, a segment of women and men ranging between two thirds and three fourths stated that they agreed with the statement that divorced women are excluded.



Conclusion

Education, and especially higher education, plays a very important role in the acknowledgement and adoption of the values concerning the equality of women and men.  The point to underline in this respect is the fact that education has a much greater influence on women compared to men.  In all the provinces and concerning almost all subject matter; as women become concious and knowledgeable individuals with increasing educational levels, their values change and they increase their participation in the society and politics, they become demanding in  public institutions within the framework of their civic rights, moreover they tend to respect human rights in general and be more demanding as citizens. While education has a positive influence also on men, the relationship is not as uniliniarly positive as it is for women.



Education does not only transmit knowledge, but also helps the acquisition of new values.  To begin with, educated women are more aware of the equality between women and men. More importantly, they believe that the relation between women and men should be based upon these egalitarian values and they defend these values comprehensively.  For example, women who received formal education are aware of their constitutional rights, oppose honor killings, send their daughters to school, want to take part in politics and have lower number of children.

A very significant outcome of the increase in the educational levels of men is the change in their public discourse, which becomes more egalitarian.  In this framework, it may be pointed out that as educational levels of men increase, their legal knowledge also increase and they become more inclined to accept the values concerning equality between women and men at the public level.  For example, educated men know that women have equal inheritance rights with men.  Nevertheless, when it comes to private living space and their own families, men differ from educated women dramatically and tend to embrace traditional values at a much higher level.  For example, a male university graduate sometimes defends violence against women or honor killings.

From time to time, similar results may be encountered with women who received higher education, even though at lower degrees.  For example, although a woman acknowledges the discourse of public equality, she defends non egalitarian values when it comes to private life. Another example would be that a lot of men and women accept constitutional equality, but at the same time overtly defend that a man may cheat on his wife or that women sometimes deserve domesticviolence.



Several surveys held in our country argue that equal rights for women are questioned in private life and family life.  At this point, the significance of family values and socialization concerning the roles of women and men should be underlined.   Stereotypes are indoctrinated to girls and boys and it becomes very difficult to change them later on.  For example, the roles of motherhood and housewife are emphasized at extreme levels and, as a result, women invest more on marriage compared to men.  Likewise, the perception that a woman’s honor is within her family’s responsibility and many rights bestowed upon men deemed inappropriate for women become quite prevalent.

A similar process is observed in politics.  Men support women candidates – in some provinces, even at higher levels compared to women. However, they tend to explain women’s lack of participation in politics in terms of women’s disinterest on the issue, rather than their (men’s) limiting attitudes and roles.  Meanwhile, women cite lack of an adequate level of education as the reason for their nonparticipation in active politics.  Morover, university graduates are majority among women who wish to enter in politics. The previous research on this issue have revealed that average educational levels of women politicians are much higher than that of men.  In other words, women fail to make adequate self-assesment, which points out to a serious problem of self-confidence amongst women.

This certainly is an issue that has to be overcome by women with the help of NGO’s.

The influence of the socio-economic status is quite complicated in terms of the values on equality between women and men.  In certain regions, as the income level increases, acceptance of egalitarian values and attitudes also rise.  The relationship is cearer for women. However, there are also examples of exact opposites to this trend. For example, in Şanlıurfa, women and men with higher socio-economic statuses display more conservative values compared to those from lower income groups.  Such tendency may be associated with the source of income.  Prosperity driven from land and commerce urges more loyalty to local traditions.  In other words, upper income segments make every effort to uphold their powers and reproduce local values and norms.  Their local positions and reputations may depend upon their role in perpetuation of these traditions. 

An example to the contrary is İzmir, where modern egalitarian values increase in direct proportion to the socio-economic status.  In this province, the income that leads to  an increase in the socio-economic status is obtained usually through professions or within modern sections of business which is a result of an educational background, i.e. higher education has tremendous influence on the income level.

Participation of women in the working life is quite low in our survey which is parallel to the overall findings in Turkey.  Despite the prevalent stereotypes, women seem to be more receptive to participation in the working life and sharing the burden of earning a living.  Still, men are of the opinion that they themselves should be the main breadwinners for their families.   Two particularities concerning the working life should be underlined.  The first one is contributing to the family income and the second one is opening up to the outside world and participating in the public life.  Women want to make greater contribution to family and society than that is estimated for them by men in both senses that is to say they want to work outside and/or do marketable work at home to generate income for the family for this purpose they want to receive an education that will provide the means to earn an income in the labor market. In this framework, we want to draw attention to the fact that failure to find a job has been claimed to be due lack of an adequate level of education and skills rather than restrictions imposed by husband and family responsibilities..

 The perception of violence was taken up as an issue to be investigated extensively in all the provinces.  The following distinction can be made at this point: Women are subject to violence usually by their family members and especially from their husbands, brothers and fathers.  Men, on the other hand, are subject to violence very rarely by family members except by their  parents.  They face violence from people other than their family such as teachers, friends or bosses.  Especially grown up men are confronted with male originated violence.  In brief, the perpetrators of violence are men.

 It is not possible to determine from the survey results if local governments offer adequate services for women in the provinces included in the scope of the survey.  Even if such services are offered, the level of awareness concerning such services is quite low.  Yet, there is strong demand for diversified services from local authorities.  Vast majority of  women and men has stated that such services are important and that they would vote for candidates who would provide such services even if they are not from the political party they regularly support.

We see that healthcare services are prioritized among such demand.  The results of several provinces reveal that the desired number of children is much less than the actual number.  In this framework, family planning gains ample importance.  Information on family planning is generally received from healthcare institutions (especially by women). We would like to emphasize the significance of reaching women in this respect, as some men receive information on family planning from their wives.

As a last but not least conluding point, we would like to emphasize that women are open to change, and the way to change women is through education.  They are more prepared to accept egalitarian values and participate in the decision-making.

 RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. There is a great need in increasing local services and especially those offered for women.   Both women and men have demands in this respect.  We would especially like to draw the attention of elected officials to one issue; supplying services for women and integrating women themselves in the decision making mechanism will attract potential votes.
2. We had previously indicated that awareness concerning the services offered by local authorities is limited.  If local governments offer services for women, it is very important that they publicize these services.  In this framework, the following means may be made use of in informing the public on such services more effectively:

1. Announcements through local radio and newspapers
2. Programs on local televisions
3. Distribution of leaflets
4. Informing muhtars and encouraging them to hold informative meetings for this purpose. Considering that women leave their houses or neighborhoods much less frequently, it is very important to reach them at their own districts.

3. It would be appropriate for local authorities to be informed on women’s demands prior to developing the services for them.  In this framework, local governments should resort to one or a few of the following methods:

1. They may recruit an expert on gender and women studies in their institution.  This expert would hold research and analyze the demands of women in that district, being in dialogue with them, and provide recommendations for the administration.
2. A service unit may be established to meet women’s demands and offer them certain services.  This unit may, for example, offer legal consultancy services and evaluate women’s demands and present them to the administration as projects.
3. They may set up a women’s council with the representatives from the municipal councils, residential districts and non-governmental organizations. There the local authorities would have the chance to meet with representatives of women, discuss their issues and develop projects.  A similar institution is being currently piloted within the framework of Yerel Gündem 21 (Local Agenda 21).

4. Rendering services accessible is as important as the offering them.  Being aware of a service is an important aspect of reaching it.  Also, easy and cheap access to such services, are essential aspects.  For example, if a vocational training course is offered as a service, it must be either free or at a very little cost, transportation must be provided or the course must be brought to the concerned residential district.
5. Violence and the perception of violence are at very high levels in the society.  Obviously, primarily violence should be prevented as a whole. Still , it exists and major part of women are subject to violence from within their own families, and mostly from the male family members.  Several surveys revealed that women do not have any income to survive on their own and thereby they are very weak.  Protecting the weak is one of the duties of the public.  In this framework and in line with the demand from women, we recommend the local authorities to open shelters for women.  The current family protection law expels the perpetrator of violence from the house, so it is possible to protect women at their houses, as well.  But, very few people are aware of this law.  Campaigns should be held to inform women on such law and its implementation conditions.  An emergency telephone line to be launched at provincial centers for information and denouncement, reachable 24 hours and 7 days, would facilitate protection of the victims of violence. 
6. We would like to draw your attention to two corporate demands directed at local authorities -- nurseries and homes for the elderly.  In fact, these two institutions help to alleviate the workload of women, and thereby open them up to public to the social life and, especially, to working life.  In several provinces, both women and men cited homes for the elderly as one of their prioritized demands.  nuclear families, taking care of the elderly is becoming as an increasingly aggravating problem and usually women have to undertake this burden.  This demand will increase further in the future. 

7.            We know that women want to participate in the labour force and contribute to the family budget.  In this framework, things to be done should include the following:

1. Provision of vocational training for women to help them pursue a career in line with their own preferences.  The courses to be offered should be decided upon as a result of a supply and demand survey to be held in the labor market and by taking into consideration women’s educational levels, ages and work experiences.
2. Opportunities should be offered for women to gain an income by working both from home (for example, knitting or tailoring) and outside.  It should not be forgotten that each of these would have a empowerment effect on women.  It would be beneficial for local governements and non-governmental organizations to actively create recruitment opportunities and markets to this end.  Creativity in careeer opportunities, diversification of business areas and products is essential to prevent serious bottle necks in  marketing and recruitment problems.
3. Apart from these, apprenticeship and training quotas may be requested for women from private courses and/or private sector businesses.  This would encourage women to enter the labor market and also serve as a trial period for adaptation to jobs for them.

8.            It seems that women’s control over the family income, including their own, if any, is limited.  It is imperative to give them authority in budget management and income control.  In this framework, banks encouraging women to open accounts would play an important role for motivation.  Banks may furnish special credit cards for women, add special benefits to these cards (such as additional bonuses), facilitate the provision of bank loans and implement special interest rates for women.  If accounts opened by women prove advantageous, husbands will support the opening of these accounts, as well.  The important issue here is to make women be accustomed to make household budgets, to menage their own income and make savings.

9.            We observe that non-governmental organizations are not known very well either.   This lack of awareness may be due to lack of prevalent and efficient activities by NGOs in certain regions.  In certain areas where NGOs are very active, awareness levels concerning women’s organizations and/or organizations serving women may be low, as well.  The following may be done in this framework:

1. NGOs should define their fields of activity very well, open themselves up to more widespread participation and publicize their services better.
2. Utilizing new methods in addition to the well-known publicity means such as media, leaflets and press releases may be instrumental as a future-oriented strategy.  Young women seem to be very eager to learn how to use the computer and the Internet.  NGOs should start using the Internet as a means of both to publicizing and actually offering their services.  For example, a family planning organization may use the Internet for both publicizing itself and providing information.
   1. Women are eager to participate in the decision making process and men state that they are ready to accept this.  However, there is an important bottleneck in this respect -- women who are most eager to enter politics are the university graduates, whereas, lack of an adequate educational level is cited as one of the most important drawbacks in terms of entering in politics.  This issue requires an in-depth analysis.  If what is meant by an adequate educational level is lack of knowledge on politics, this should be eliminated through multi-dimensional training and information dissemination (including interactive methods).  Participation of women in the decision making process does not only mean that women should be members of parliament.  Women should be encouraged to take part in local decision making processes in the coming period.  They should start with parent-teacher associations, district councils and municipal councils.  NGOs should diversify their training programs so as to include local politics, and local governments should encourage women by establishing women’s committees.
   2. The Internet will become a widely used means of communication before long.  As a means that is capable of facilitating women’s asking certain “unconventional” questions, it has a liberalizing influence.  For example, asking the question “my husband beats me, what are my rights in this respect?” over the Internet is easy, but the corresponding source for receiving the correct and simple answer to the question gains importance.  NGOs and public institutions must set up Internet sites which would provide reliable information for women. 

With the consideration that the Internet may not be available to all women, we recommend NGOs also to set up telephone hot lines for information and denouncement, by receiving support from the government.