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 parliaments.

1. WOMEN as DECISION MAKERS
Dr. Arzu ÖZYOL

2. 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.

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

4. 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.

5. Constitution of TR
Articles 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,

6. 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.”

7. REASONS of INEQUALITY in
TURKISH PARLIAMENT
• Customs coming from old
patriarchal structure of our
community,
• Leader-dominated structure of
political parties,

8. • Candidacy process,
• Functioning and
organisation of political life,

9. 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

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

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

12. 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.

13. 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.

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

15. 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.

16. 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.

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

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

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

20. Major Action Areas
• Action Area 1: Strengthen gender
equality legislation, policy and
strategies.
• AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

21. 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.

22. 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).

23. 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.

24. Effective Temporary
Strategies
• Recruiting, financially assisting
and training women
candidates,
• Amending electoral
procedures, developing
campaigns directed at equal
participation,

25. • Setting numerica goals and
quotas,
• Targeting women for
appointment to public positions
such as the judiciary or other
professional

26. 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)

27. Action Area 2: Mainstream
gender equality throughout
all parliamentary work
Gender Mainstreaming

28. 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.

29. Action Area 3: Improve gender-
sensitive infrastructure and
parliamentary culture
Parliaments 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.

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

31. 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.

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

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

34. 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.