Legal amendment ‘aims to prevent divorce’ by limiting right to alimony

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"In countries such as Switzerland and Germany, where there is a practice of limited alimony and which are cited as an example for Turkey, women can participate in employment. Women's poverty is not as high as it is in Turkey.

"The amendment foreseeing a year limit will not do good to anyone because the law already does not foresee an indefinite alimony."

This is how lawyers Ceren Akkaya and Aslı Pasinli from the İstanbul Purple Roof Women's Shelter Foundation and the Diyarbakır Bar Association Women's Rights Center comment on the legal amendment expected to introduce a time limit to the right of alimony in Turkey.

The details of the legal amendment expected to be introduced to the right of alimony have recently been reported in the press. Awaiting to be reviewed by Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, the amendment plans to introduce a time limit to the right of alimony after divorce.

Accordingly, the time during which alimony is to be paid will be limited to 5 years for marriages that lasted less than 2 years and to 12 years for those that continued for 5 to 10 years. The related law is expected to be amended in such a way that the duration of alimony payment will be determined based on the duration of marriage for marriages that lasted more than 15 years.

Depending on the circumstances of the parties, it will be at the discretion of the judge to set the time limit. The judge will consider the "job and income situations of spouses" in making this decision.

However, in Turkey, the parties who have a divorce have the right to apply to court when they want to change the amount of alimony or when they do not want to pay any alimony at all. A new court ruling may be handed down as a result of these legal proceedings. So, it is not realistic or true to say that the alimony is set once and for all or it does not change ever again.

Then, for whose good is this legal amendment planned? And, more importantly, how will it affect the lives of women?

Lawyers Akkaya and Pasinli have answered our questions.

Akkaya: Take steps for gender equality

We are now tired of seeing that for nearly the past 4 years, the issue of alimony is brought to the agenda, it is withdrawn amid public backlash just to be brought to the agenda again.

We have been trying to explain: Without eliminating women's aggravating poverty and taking the necessary steps to ensure gender equality in Turkey or without making way for women's employment by offering support such as kindergarten support, etc. - as it is required in a social state - we cannot talk about the issue of alimony.

They raise hell for 300 lira a month

No data has been presented to us by the state about alimony; however, the studies conducted by various civil society organizations and research companies have shown us this: The average amount of alimony is around 300 Turkish Lira (~22 US Dollars) in a month and most of it cannot be collected anyway! So, this is the average of the alimony that they want to limit and this is what they break hell over.

We do not give up saying that if there is a problem with alimony, it is a problem concerning the collection of this money and a problem of women's poverty.

The amendment foreseeing a year limit will not do good to anyone because the law already does not foresee an indefinite alimony.

Besides, with this issue brought to the agenda from time to time for nearly the last four years, there has emerged a tendency among judges to limit the duration of alimony payment or to reduce the amount of alimony to be paid.

There are no aggrieved fathers!

Feeling at ease thanks to this issue being brought to the agenda, the ones obligated to pay alimony have started acting more comfortable about it. For this reason, we want the Civil Code's provisions on alimony and its all other provisions to be left as they are without any legal amendments and we are insistent on this demand.

It seems that this amendment is to be introduced upon the pressure of various small groups such as the 'aggrieved fathers platform' because no one apparently listens to women, women's organizations or the studies conducted.

I am also of the opinion that various amendments desired to be introduced to the Civil Code should naturally be regarded as a precursor to other interferences with women's rights.

If it begins with amendments to the right to alimony, other amendments may unfortunately follow. We already see that there are also preparations to amend the law in terms of divorce.

If this legal amendment is passed, it may make it harder for women to decide to have a divorce with the aim of getting away from violence and building a life away from violence.

Because while several women are now farther away from employment and responsible for precarious care work and especially in a period when poverty is getting deeper in Turkey, it may naturally lead them to see this time limit on alimony as an obstacle in their way.

Pasinli: Divorced women live on starvation line

In Turkey, divorced women already live on starvation and poverty lines. The alimonies passed down by courts are already very low. While this is actually what we need to discuss and change, this amendment, on the contrary, confines women to the houses where they are subjected to violence.

The debates on alimony have been around since 2011. They brought this before us. It was said, "Women should not be paid alimony for an indefinite period". After 2011, in 2016, they established the "Parliamentary Investigation Commission Established With the Aim of Investigating the Elements Affecting Family Union Negatively and the Cases of Divoce and Determining the Measures to Strengthen the Institution of Family".

This commission prepared a report. This was, in fact, what this report indicated: Let's protect family no matter what. In all of these reports, the main aim is to stop divorce.

In the meantime, the Kestel Family Court applied to the Constitutional Court about the alimony being indefinite. It said, "This is against the Constitution; this is contrary to the principle of equality". With this being taken to the top court, the debates on this indefiniteness began.

There is a problem of women's poverty

When these debates began, the ones who said that alimony should be abolished argued that there is a time limit on the payment of alimony in countries such as Germany, France and Switzerland, citing these countries as an example. Is the standard of living of the women in those countries the same as the situation of women in our country?

In those countries, women take a more effective part in working life; they do not have to grapple with unemployment like we do in Turkey.

The countries cited as an example are the countries that are developed in terms of gender equality. As for our country, it is known for its gender inequality. There are reports on this. There is serious women's poverty in Turkey.

While these debates were ongoing, the Family Ministry made a statement and said that "no legal amendment would be introduced to alimony, no one would touch alimony." This statement relieved women a little bit.

But then the President of Court of Cassation's 2nd Chamber Ömer Uğur Gencey alleged that "80 percent of men's acquired rights are taken away from them with the regulations on alimony." He made such statements.

Then, all of a sudden, groups that did not exist before, such as the 'aggrieved fathers platform', came up. I believe that these groups were created. I know that they are very few in number.

They have created such an atmosphere that there is a grave aggrievement. In the current situation, we are now faced with this amendment. This amendment will lead to serious aggrievements on the part of women.

There is already a serious problem with women's access to justice. When women want to have a divorce, they cannot hire a lawyer, they cannot pay for the files, women already cannot access justice.

Women need more support in Turkey. If the ones who draft these amendments want to introduce a limitation on alimony... Increase women's employment and develop some policies about women's employment... If you do these, no one will say anything to the amendments concerning alimony. But in its current form, this amendment will lead to the aggrievement of several women. Alimonies were already very low and they will be lower.

It is against international conventions

I do not think that these attacks targeting women's rights will be limited to alimony. They will attack women's other rights as well. Like the right of custody. Moreover, with this amendment, Turkey will violate international conventions such as the CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

(EMK/SD)

LAWYERS PASİNLİ & AKKAYA