Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-21-Speech-1-138-000"
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"en.20120521.19.1-138-000"2
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"Madam President, it is a great pleasure to be presenting to you today my third report on the situation of women in Turkey, which presents a strategy towards 2020 and is inspired by the gender aspect of Europe 2020. In preparing my report, I spoke to various ministers, Members of Parliament, women’s NGOs and many others, such as young university students. Of all these meetings, the one that affected me the most was the meeting I had with Arzu, a woman who was staying in the shelter. Her story has helped me in evaluating the law on the protection of women from violence. I will come back to that.
In my report, I have made a call for zero tolerance for violence against women. The report indicates what needs to be done about violence and stresses that, without good implementation, even the best laws cannot protect women, so I put forward suggestions to ensure that the law is strictly applied. More shelters are needed. The existing shelters should be made safer, and the personnel must be better trained. There should be vocational courses offered to women in the shelters. This is important because many of the women who have been victims of violence are housewives or, like Arzu, have lost their jobs because their ex-husbands also attacked them at their places of work. Arzu was continually beaten up by her husband even after obtaining a divorce. The law which was in effect at that time did not protect victims who were not married. It must be made clear to Turkey that the law protects women, regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.
Many positive developments are also taking place in Turkey. The Ankara Prosecutor’s Office has established a specialised bureau dealing solely with violence against women, which is very successful. We need more of these in Turkish cities and rural areas.
The gender gap in primary education has been closed, but there are worries concerning the new education reform. The new system should not jeopardise the successes achieved so far concerning the schooling of girls. The percentage of women in the labour market has risen to around 30%, but more needs to be done on issues such as child care and maternity leave to further increase this ratio. Trade union activities should also be made more accessible for women.
In my report, I ask for a new law on political parties and elections which would establish a temporary mandatory quota system ensuring the fair representation of women in electoral lists. In order to successfully make the necessary changes, a change in mentality is needed. Women are not only mothers or members of a family, they are individuals. This must be made crystal clear.
The Commission is actively engaged in improving women’s rights in Turkey. Last week, during the launch of the positive agenda, Commissioner Füle once more highlighted the importance of women’s rights within the positive agenda, as well as the importance of Chapter 23 negotiations on this subject. Indeed, in order to give the EU more leverage in the area of women’s rights, Chapter 23 negotiations should be opened. I want strongly to underline the importance of the Commission and Turkey continuing to promote women’s rights in Turkey and to place women’s rights at the heart of the accession negotiations.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone, especially the shadow rapporteurs, who have contributed to the drafting of this report."@en1
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