Alif Akgul

Istanbul — The upcoming policies in Turkey, especially following the government’s declaration of the “Year of the Family” under the slogan “Strong Family, Strong Society,” include changes affecting women’s professional lives. Marketed as “updates,” these policies have sparked widespread controversy, with many viewing them as a threat to women’s hard-won rights.

In 2024, the Turkish government announced the “Year of the Family” with the slogan “Strong Family, Strong Society,” aiming to center public policies around the concept of the family. From the outset, President Erdoğan expressed his desire for families to have three children, signaling a clear push to promote population growth.

The focus on the number of children and linking societal strength to women’s fertility led critics to warn that these policies could be used to restrict women’s roles in public life and reproduce traditional patterns that marginalize their active participation in the workforce and political sphere.

In this context, lawyer Deren Jawhar shen, a member of the Executive Council at the Women’s Rights Center of the Istanbul Bar Association, said: “The year 2025 has been full of losses and interventions for women. We have been hearing about the ‘Year of the Family’ for some time, but no one knows exactly what it means. Even those who announced it did not provide a clear explanation.” She added that speeches glorifying the family as “sacred” do not reflect real protection for women but are used as a cover to marginalize their rights and restrict their freedoms.

She pointed out that the current politics are part of the a systematic and deliberate intervention: “The introduction of the eleventh judicial package and the appearance of the ‘Year of the Family’ stamp on official documents were not random steps but part of a long-term plan. We did not reach this stage overnight, but through a series of cumulative measures. These indicators clearly reflect direct interference in women’s bodies and private lives.”

She emphasized: “When a 23-year-old woman is prevented from visiting a gynecologist, or abortion is effectively banned in public hospitals—and even restricted in some private hospitals despite being a legal right—we are witnessing a serious rollback of fundamental achievements. These practices are not merely administrative restrictions but reflect an authoritarian vision seeking to control women’s lives and choices.”

Deren Jawhar Shen stressed that women’s rights in Turkey are experiencing a serious decline: “The current government is systematically implementing anti-women policies.” She noted: “They announce the ‘Year of the Family,’ but in reality, families are left to their fate with minimal financial support that falls short of meeting the challenges. Marriage is promoted, but we know well what women face inside those homes. At least three women are killed every day, often despite protection orders. Women are killed or assaulted by men whom the law is supposed to protect them from. They live in an unsafe environment, with no real guarantees, under a system that ignores violence and perpetuates discrimination instead of confronting it.”

The lawyer described the ‘Year of the Family’ announcement as a deliberate attempt to exclude women from professional and social life: “The real goal is to push women to withdraw from their roles in the workforce and public life, confining them to the walls of the home. They aim to impose a traditional model of womanhood—bearing children, raising them, and waiting for her husband to return home to prepare his meal. It is an attempt to reduce women’s roles and marginalize their presence in public life.

She added, “What is happening today is a clear attempt to restrict women, to subjugate them, and to strip them of the right to determine their own destiny. Our lives are gradually being pushed toward contraction, with limits imposed on us that narrow day by day.”

Deren Jawhar Shen highlighted the structural discrimination that excludes women from being independent individuals, noting a legal case filed by two lawyers challenging the transfer of a married woman’s registry to her husband: “Although the change is like carving with a needle into rock, there are positive steps happening. A lawsuit was filed to challenge the transfer of a woman’s registry to her husband after marriage, and the Constitutional Court conducted a legal review of the text, which is extremely important. We hope a fair decision will be issued, because the current practice stems from the idea that a woman is not an independent individual, which contradicts the constitution, international conventions, and human rights principles.”

She emphasized, “In a judicial system that does not even recognize Constitutional Court decisions, merely discussing these issues becomes absurd. Yet women have not stopped fighting for their rights. This struggle is not new but part of a global movement, carried out by women everywhere, for justice and equality.