The women lawyers who had come together in March 20, 1999, with the call of the Istanbul Women's Rights Commission, have established the Turkish Bars Union Women's Legal Commission (TUBAKKOM). TUBAKKOM co-president and the head of Istanbul Bar Women's Rights Commission, lawyer Nazan Moroglu answered our questions.

Why did you set up TUBAKKOM?

One of the important steps in the road towards democratization is providing that women have equal rights as men legally and in everyday life. In order to contribute to this, as the Istanbul Bar Women's Rights Commission, we made this call.

On March 20, 1999, women lawyers from a number of bars came together at the Istanbul meeting. At this meeting, we discussed "Gender Equality in Laws in the Democratization Process." We unanimously voted to set up the "Turkish Bars Women's Rights Commission Network." Later, this decision became formal and we took the name "Turkish Bars Union Women's Legal Commission." The decision was taken on March 20, 1999, and it became formal on June 5, 1999.

What does TUBAKKOM do?

Some articles of the Civil Code, Penal Code, Labor Law and some other laws violate the concept of gender equality. We aim to form a strong pressure group to get those articles amended to comply with current conditions and needs.

TUBAKKOM sent the Civil Code Draft's Family Law Section to bars and initiated a debate. It later prepared the TUBAKKOM report, which included criticisms and proposals about this section. We later published a book about this study.

"Equality and ban on discrimination"

What other studies will you have on laws?

We want to play an important role in getting the concepts of "equality" and "ban on discrimination" to be part of the laws and to be implemented. We also aim to push Turkey to comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and other international agreements.

I think you also have certain activities about violence against women.

We aim to push for a solution for problems arising from discrimination and all forms of violence against women, including domestic violence. Women, when they apply to certain institutions with such complaints, face underestimation, insults and other discriminatory behavior. We are also spending efforts in getting rid of such behavior. Many bars are spending efforts in this matter.

There are free consultations at certain bars, right?

One of our goals is to provide free consultation services for women who do not have enough information about their rights, who do not know where to apply, and who are in economic hardship. We also want to push for a wide national education for women on their legal rights. Some bars provide free consultations.

About 30 provinces

Which provincial bars have women's commissions?

Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Bursa, Karabuk, Erzincan, Sanliurfa,Kirklareli, Hatay, Kayseri, Zonguldak, Karaman, Mugla, Konya, Antalya,Mersin, Samsun, Eskisehir, Adiyaman, Amasya, Manisa, Denizli, Van, Artvin,Bolu, Sinop, Diyarbakir, Edirne. Bars in about 30 provinces have a women's commission.

You also aim for coordination and communication between these commissions, right?

This was one of our aims when, as the Istanbul Bar Women's Rights Commission, we made the initial call. One of TUBAKKOM's goals is to strengthen friendship and exchange of information between the women's legal commissions of the bars and to encourage other bars to set up a women's commission. (FK/BB/NK)