Gender discrimination in Türkiye 'concerning,' says European Commission report

Photo: Dilara Açıkgöz/csgorselarsiv.org

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A recently published European Commission 2022 Türkiye report addressed the regression of freedom of expression, human rights and the rule of law, the violations of rights against women and LGBTI+, and severe deficiencies in the functioning of its democratic institutions.

The report said that since last year's Türkiye's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty against violence against women and domestic violence, male violence and gender discrimination have been a serious concern. Backsliding continues in the area of women's rights and gender equality.

For example, low penalties for gender-based violence not providing an effective deterrent against gender-based violence, an increase in hate speech against independent women's organizations, and the absence of data collection on violence against women and domestic violence. According to bianet's Male Violence Monitoring Reports, men killed at least 248 women in incidents of gender-based violence in the first nine months of 2022.

Hate speech against LGBTI+s

Anti-discrimination legislation also does not meet European standards, and there are serious concerns about protecting the basic human rights of LGBTI+s, says the EU Commission report. There is neither legislation to combat hate speech nor regulations on hate crimes on sexual orientation and gender identity. Moreover, hate speech targeting LGBTI+ by elected and appointed state officials has increased.

For example, on September 18 this year, a large anti-LGBT+ rally was held in Istanbul. The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) published a video for the event on its website in the "public service announcements" category.

In a recent interview, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shared his view on the LGBT community, referring to LGBTI+s as a "degeneration of Türkiye's family structure."

"The concept of family is indispensable for us. As a strong nation comes from a strong family. Now we have to do this work too because lately, they have introduced LGBT into society. Together with LGBT, they tried to degenerate our family structure. So we will do what is necessary."

The European report also addressed the backsliding in areas such as freedom of expression and civil society and human rights organizations. As the March 8 International Women's Day demonstrations and the Pride march were banned. Human rights defenders and independent non-governmental organizations have faced severe repression through judicial investigations, trials, threats, and arbitrary detentions.