‘If It is About Women’s Safety, Let’s Talk About Academic Harassment’

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After President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested establishing women's universities in Turkey like the ones in Japan, it has been added to the "11th Development Plan."

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency, the women's universities in Japan will be examined and women's universities that would admit only women students will be established in Turkey accordingly.

Üstün: Gender equality needs to be established

Speaking to bianet, İlknur Üstün from the Women's Coalition Platform says that the current condition in Turkey will deteriorate with the establishment of women's universities. She explains why she finds the suggestion inacceptable in following words:

"When women could not or were not admitted universities in the world, women's universities were used to pave the way for women's access to universities. But, these periods have long gone. They were implemented in periods when there was no women's inclusion in universities.

"But, it is currently not the case in Turkey. Moreover, at a time when gender equality needs to be established and women's presence needs to be ensured, they are bringing forward the issue of women's universities again. What is that supposed to mean?

"It will not lead to gender equality, but will pave the way for discrimination. There needs to be a document on gender attitude in universities. The quality of universities needs to be determined based on this document, they need to give classes on gender equality. Academia needs to be strengthened. This practice will not cater to gender equality."

Kerestecioğlu: Japan ranks badly in women's rights

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Ankara MP and lawyer Filiz Kerestecioğlu makes the following remarks about the issue:

"To begin with, there is an authoritarian tone in his words. He says, 'I have given an instruction to Council of Higher Education (YÖK) Chair to work on this issue.' No one has the authority or right to use such a tone.

"We see that Japan, which Turkey takes as an example for women's universities, ranks badly in global women's rights indexes. In that sense, it has no practices that we can take as an example. These universities were established in Japan maybe because women had no part in education. But, Turkey is not such a country, it is not in that condition.

'They want to exclude gender from literature'

"In fact, if you remember the women who wanted to enter universities with their headscarves, but were prevented from doing so, I do not think that they will or would like to study in separate universities, either.

"What needs to be done is to support women studies. Units on women studies have been established in universities in Turkey since the 1980s. They should not impose a lie on us. Because we actually know that they want to exclude the notion of gender from literature.

"I also think that systems of education separating women and men inflict greater harm on women by decreasing cohesion in society further. We were the first students admitted to boys' high-schools. It was very difficult for boys to accept it, we had hard times. But if there had been an equal education environment from the very beginning, it would not have been like that."

Concluding her remarks, Kerestecioğlu says, "The women's movement in Turkey is powerful and it will not let anything outside its will."

Gökçen: Let's talk about harassment in academia

Lastly, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Vice Chair Gökçe Gökçen states the following about the issue:

"Let me first express this: As a young person, I am really tired of sudden and unscientific changes in education system of Turkey being experimented on us and, as a woman, I am really tired of decisions being taken about us from a sole male perspective.

"Coincidentally heard in a coincidental meeting, women's universities are now being discussed in Turkey. Then, let us ask this: Why women's universities? If you admit that women are not safe in universities, then, let us talk about harassment in academia.

"If you think that women cannot access education, let us talk about social and political obstacles. If you are trying to exclude the victim to resolve a problem, we will not be a part of it." (EMK/SD)