Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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22.51 The 2006 IHF report further stated that:
“The case opened against four police officers for torturing two young girls, Fatma Deniz Polattas and Nazime Ceren Samanoglu, in Iskenderun in 1999 was concluded in 2005. While the officers remained in their duties and received promotions, Polattas and Samanoglu were convicted on the basis of their confessions reportedly extracted under torture. The two girls were released in December 2004 due to an amendment to the law. In April, Iskenderun Aggravated Penal Court acquitted the police officers on the basis of insufficient evidence since the Forensic Institute reported that the girls objected to virginity test which was supposed to obtain evidence on their rape claims.” [10a] (441)
22.52 The 2006 IHF report also added that:
“Derya Orman, Gülselin Orman and Seyhan Geylani Sondas were arrested by the police in Istanbul in April because one of them did not have an identity card with her. They stated that the police requested them ‘sexual favors’ in the station in order to release them. They reported that they were stripped naked, sexually harassed and forced to sexual intercourse by the officers on duty, including a policewoman. HRA officials reported that the applicants were mistreated by the prosecutor when they went to his office to file complaints against the police officers.” [10a] (441)
22.53 As reported in a recent BIA News article dated 2 November 2006:
“A recent study of violence against women by state security forces has shown that at least 70 women were raped while under detention between 1997 and 2006 while 166 others were sexually harassed. The total number of women who have sought legal support and assistance in this period is 236. A report issued by the Judicial Assistance Project for Sexual Harassment and Rape Under Detention said that only two of the 236 applications made for support came from Germany while the rest of the incidents were recorded in Turkey… The project's lawyer Eren Keskin told bianet that harassment and rape were specifically employed as deterrent methods in east and southeast Turkey while kidnapping of women concentrated in the cities of Tatvan and Mardin. Keskin acknowledged that women subject to this form of violence had ‘great difficulties’ in applying for judicial aid and said that as most women faced such incidents at very young ages, there was a need for a new institution other than the coroner's office, which could deal with psychological reports.” [102j]
Employment and Gender Equality
22.54 The European Commission 2005 report outlined that “In spite of various legal and practical initiatives, the problem of discrimination on the basis of gender remains a cause for concern. Women remain vulnerable to discriminatory practices, due largely to a lack of education and a high illiteracy rate (about 20% of women in Turkey are illiterate and in the Southeast this figure is considerably higher).” [71d] (p33)

22.55 The European Commission 2006 report stated:

“Women remain vulnerable to discriminatory practices, due largely to a lack of education and a high illiteracy rate. The girls’ education campaign conducted by the Ministry of National Education and UNICEF ensured the enrolment in primary schools of 62 000 girls in 2005, which would otherwise have been out of school. In 2006 the campaign was extended to all 81 provinces. Private sector campaigns to increase school enrolment and to improve the physical condition of schools have continued. The level of participation of women in the parliament and in local representative bodies remains very low and prevailing discrimination exists in the labour market. Participation by women in the workforce is among the lowest in OECD countries.” [71a] (p18)
22.56 The EC 2006 report further added that “Overall, there has been growing public attention on the issue of women's rights in Turkey. However, full respect of women's rights remains a critical problem, particularly in the poorest areas of the country. While the legal framework is overall satisfactory, its implementation remains inadequate.” [71a] (p19)
22.57 As noted in the USSD 2005 report
“The Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women, under the State Ministry in Charge of Family Affairs, is responsible for promoting equal rights and raising awareness of discrimination against women. Women continued to face discrimination in employment to varying degrees and were generally underrepresented in managerial-level positions as well as in government. Women generally received equal pay for equal work in professional, business, and civil service positions, although a large percentage of women employed in agriculture and in the trade, restaurant, and hotel sectors worked as unpaid family labor.” [5b] (Section 5 Women)
22.58 The Human Rights Watch on ‘Essential Background: overview on human rights issues on Turkey’ March 2005, noted that, “Women who wear the headscarf for religious reasons continue to be excluded from higher education, the civil service, and political life. Female lawyers who wear the headscarf are not permitted to enter courtrooms, and in July the Ankara Bar took disciplinary action against a lawyer who wore a headscarf while carrying out her duty to a client in a bailiff’s office.” [9e]
See also Section 18.12 Headscarves