They agreed that the most important improvement of 2006 was a government circular order to enhance state protection on violence against women while problems persist to put the acquisitions of years of struggle into practice.
Activist-lawyer Habibe Yilmaz noted the importance of the government's declaration on violence against women; that there is an official policy against it.
In 2007, the extent to which this policy realizes will prove how sincere the government is, said Yilmaz.
Pinar Selek from Amargi added that while the women's movement encountered difficulties on organization and practicing feminist politics, cooperation between different organizations working in the field improved.
"Now there are more women's organizations than ever and despite a year of hard circumstances, solidarity among them flourished in 2006" she said. Selek hoped for more women's shelters around the country in 2007.
Nebahat Akkoc of KAMER's Diyarbakir branch agreed with others that the most significant development was that violence against women marked the social agenda throughout the year.
Drawing attention to legal improvements acquired, Beyhan Demir of Pazartesi Magazine joined Akkoc saying a social pressure is established against violence towards women and now it's time to see the new legislation in practice.(AO/EU).
