Back Marking the International Women’s Day in Türkiye: Access to justice for women and girls during crisis and disasters

Türkiye 10 March 2023
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photo: Shutterstock

photo: Shutterstock

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the joint action of the European Union and the “Fostering women’s access to justice in Türkiye” held an online panel about “Access to justice for women and girls during crisis and disasters”.

Representatives of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (UTBA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye, Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, bar associations, universities, academicians, experts, and civil society organisations took part in fruitful discussions on how women and girls’ get access to rights, support services, justice, and legal mechanisms in the provinces affected by the devastating earthquakes on 6 February.

The meeting was launched with the opening speeches of the Vice Chair of the UTBA, Atty. Sibel Suiçmez, and the President of Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, Prof. Dr. Muharrem Kılıç. The panel with participation of Canan Güllü, Head of Federation of Women’s Associations of Türkiye, Dr. Eray Sinan Demirhan, Head of the Department of Human Rights Law on Gaziantep University, and Atty. Sevil Ceylan Berkat, Executive Board Member of Union of Turkish Bar Associations Women's Law Commission, followed.

The panellists discussed the main challenges and barriers against women’s and girls’ access to justice in eleven provinces affected by the earthquake. The session was led by Prof. Dr. Gülriz Uygur, Law Faculty of Ankara University. The event provided valuable and comprehensive insight on challenges faced in the current situation as well as interesting discussions. The event was attended by 74 representatives of universities, civil society organisations, bar associations, and public institutions.

This event was organised in the framework of the action on “Fostering women's access to justice in Türkiye”, part of the European Union and Council of Europe’s joint programme "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye".