BY FERAI TINC
HURRIYET- Women from around the world have gathered in New York to discuss the progress made in the decade since the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing.
Turkey has sent delegates to the ‘Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ for the last three years and even held the position of chairwoman at these meetings for two terms, but lost its right to be represented on the committee.
Last year, the Copenhagen criteria adaptation process was going full steam and women in Turkey gained more rights than even their European counterparts. Then why have we lost a position which allowed us to make ourselves heard in the UN?
A member of the committee since 1997, Feride Acar held the position of chair for two years.
Why is Turkey no longer represented on the committee?
The reason is we don’t have a government that recognizes women’s rights as an indicator of a country’s level of civilization.
The committee is based on international compromises. Therefore, every member is backed by her own country. Turkey’s membership in 1997 was also the result of diplomatic efforts of a female politician [then Prime Minister Tansu Ciller] and the government in charge then.
According to a recent study conducted by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, there hasn’t been any progress in women’s status since the meeting in Beijing, and the major threat to women remains poverty.
The research also reveals that rising military spending and militarism, along with fundamentalists’ opposition to women’s rights, are among the developing trends against women.
Equal rights for women in politics and the business world is another issue that remains untouched since the meeting in Beijing.
Moreover, if women had a voice in politics, political disputes would be solved through peaceful means, leaving no excuse to boost military spending and militarism, because peace is the indispensable priority of the female point of view.
The status of Iraqi women is a reflection of these problems. Women’s rights activists in Iraq are being murdered one by one. In an atmosphere of military conflict and growing radicalism, women’s rights can’t flourish.
Tomorrow is March 8, International Women’s Day. But the issue of women’s rights isn’t discussed only once a year. Although there hasn’t been much progress on the issue since the 1995 meeting in Beijing, equality between the sexes is now a priority to be considered in every aspect of life.
Today, it’s known that the level of civilization in a country is determined by the status of its women.