Women in Turkey

The role of women in contemporary Turkey is defined by an ongoing gender equality struggle, contributing elements of which include predicate conditions for EU membership candidacy, prevalent political tides that favour restrictive patriarchal models, and woman's rights activism. Legislation has been introduced by the Islamic-oriented AK Party which includes outlawing marital rape and relaxing of restrictions which banned the wearing of the headscarf. Women in Turkey continue to be a victim of rape and honor killings; furthermore researches by scholars and government agencies indicate widespread domestic violence in Turkish population.

Women in Turkey also face significant disparities in employment, and, in some regions, education. The participation of Turkish women in the labor force is less than half of that of the European Union average and while several campaigns have been successfully undertaken to promote female literacy, there is still a gender gap in secondary education and an increasing gender gap in higher education. There is also widespread occurrence of childhood marriages in Turkey, the practice being especially widespread in the eastern and central parts of the country.