Women In Turkey

458 Words2 Pages
Years ago women in Turkey, as in many other countries, were treated differently from men. In the twentieth century some enlightened men acknowledged that women were human beings too and that they should have the same rights as men. They had no political rights vote, wives didn’t have equality with their husbands, many girls weren’t allowed to get an education The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk introduced many reforms and one of these was political rights for women. This meant that women could vote and take an active role in politics. They could become a vital part of society. Many women have since held elective positions ranging from local village administration to the National Parliament. A woman has even been elected Prime Minister. In the past fathers had strict control of the family and therefore determined when and who their daughters would marry. Many young women thought that they would be free in their new homes, but sadly realized that they had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. They soon learned that their husband controlled the marriage. In recent years, the laws have been changed; men and women have equal rights in a marriage, women have the right to work without their husband’s permission and community property standards have been established. Before the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 hardly any girls attended school. Today in Turkey eight years of education are now mandatory with plans to increase it to twelve years. Male and female students share the same classrooms, take the same exams and compete for the same places in the universities. However, changing the law doesn’t mean that established social traditions can be easily changed. In many parts of Turkey people don’t want their daughters to be educated. They are afraid that if the girls have the chance to be educated they will want to have
Open Document