‘We Continue to Produce Knowledge Upon Gender Equality Principle’

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The Supreme Council of Higher Education (YÖK) removed the Document of Stance on Gender Equality from its website on February 20.

Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) and numerous civil society organizations criticized the removal of the document. MP Fatma Kurtalan from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) submitted a parliamentary question.

While the YÖK and the government circles remain silent, the Feminist and Queer Researchers Network (FQA) has released a statement on the issue, briefly saying,

"Knowing that YÖK is already an institution with problems, we understand from Saraç's (Yekta, the YÖK Chair) statement that the Document of Stance on Gender Equality has been withdrawn from circulation.

"An attack to the years-long struggle"

"Today, similar regressions and bans are experienced in many countries. In Hungary, gender equality centers in universities are being closed under the pretext of cost-benefit calculation. In Hungary and Poland, family studies programs are opened and supported by churches.

"In Brazil, a bill that bans lecturers from using the notions of 'gender' and 'sexual orientation' in their classes is ready at the parliament.

"In Bulgaria, a project within a UNESCO program that will provide a model to ensure gender equality in schools is blocked because of the pressure from the government and the media.

"In the US, the government prepares for amendments to laws that will change the legal definition of gender as 'biological attributes' and that leave trans-gender students defenseless against hate crime.

"The developments in Turkey are a part of this negative change.

"We, as the Feminist and Queer Researchers, condemn these attempts which have the characteristics of an attack on gender equality principle, freedom of thought, and the years-long equality and rights struggle of movements that are sensitive to women, sex, gender, and gender identity.

"We declare that we will continue to produce knowledge upon the gender equality principle."

About the FQA

The Feminist and Queer Researchers Network was founded with an open call in November 2018

Its aim is to provide communication between feminist and queer researchers in and outside of the academy, in Turkey and abroad. Stating that the problems they face and the conditions they experience stem from global-scale problems, the FQA aims to communicate to similar organizations in Turkey and abroad develop ways to move together with them.

(EMK/VK)