Young People, Women are More Equalitarian

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According to both women and men, the biggest problem that the women in Turkey face is violence. In fact, the percentage of men (57%) who think like that is greater than women’s (53%).

43% of these women and 45% of these men have never heard of the word “feminism” in their lives.

The results of the research titled “Study of Perception Towards Gender and Women in Turkey” conducted by the Kadir Has University Gender and Women’s Studies Research for the year of 2017 were announced today (March 7).

The study presented to public with the presentations of Kadir Has University President Prof. Dr. Mustafa Aydın, Kadir Has University Gender and Women’s Studies Center Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mary Lou O’Neil and Kadir Has University Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences academic member Assist. Prof. Dr. Aslı Çarkoğlu, was realized with 1,216 people of both women and men from 23 cities in February.

Men don’t contribute housework

The study suggests that when asked about their contribution to housework, 63% of the men say they do shopping and 65% tell they do repairs. The percentage of men who contribute to housework including cleaning, tidying, cooking, washing laundry doesn’t exceed 9.

Men also don’t contribute childcare. 25% of the men say they never play with their children and 22% never travel with their families. Asked of their contribution to childcare, 42% of the men say they never contribute works like playing and studying with them, dealing with their problems at school/kindergarten, feeding, cleaning, putting to sleep.

Women trust their husbands less than their husbands do

While the study indicates that the participants trust mostly their mothers, fathers and children, the percentage of men who say “I trust my spouse” is 92.8%, it is 83.9% for women.

The study asserts the society trusts military and police more than doctors and academics.

The unhappiest section is men aged between 25-35

It is seen that men and women are in opposite tendencies when asked about their overall satisfaction in life.

While the study shows that the women have their most pleased period of their lives between the age of 25-35, men go through their unhappiest times in this period.

Women and young people are more equalitarian

When the gender perception of the participants is evaluated by their gender and age, it is seen that women are more equalitarian than men, and that young people are more equalitarian among the men.

“The younger, the more woman you are, the more equalitarian you are”, says Çarkoğlu from the research team.

The study suggests that the section that define themselves as those whose gender awareness is the highest are the women who define themselves as “republican/Kemliast”, and the most non-equalitarian section is the men who define themselves as “religious/conservative”.

Those who have never heard of feminism

43% of the women participants and 47% of the men participants stated they have never heard of the word “feminism”. Last year, this percentage was 50 for all participants. While a 5% increase is seen compared to last year, the prejudices about feminism still continue.

Some slight changes also about abortion can be seen. The percentage of those who defend “Abortion is one of the most fundamental rights of women, it cannot be banned” remained same with 43%. The percentage of “pro-life” defenders has increased from 41.6% to 47%.

Both men and women are of the same opinion on the last question of the study: “Do men and women have equal rights in Turkey?”, responded as no by 77% of the women and 73% of the men. (ÇT/TK)